An exposition of the Old and New Testament

1. 10. l^

EXPOSITION \^/''^^om2

Old and New Testament:

EACH CHAPTER IS SUMMED UP IN ITS CONTEhl S ; THE SACRED TEXT INSERTED

AT LARGE, IN DISTINCT PARAGRAPHS ; EACH PARAGRAPH REDUCED

TO ITS PROPER HEADS ; THE SENSE GIVEN,

AND LARGELY ILLUSTRATED;

PRACTICAL REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS:

BY MATTHEW HENRY, i

EDITED BY

THE REV. GEORGE BURDER, AND THE REV. JOSEPH HUGHES, A M

WITH THE

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,

BY THE
REV, SAMUEL PALMER.

JFitst American ISditton:

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,

A PREFACE,

BY ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D. D.

rnOFESSOR of theology in THE SEMINARY AT FRINOKTON, H. 3.

VOL. III.

PHILADELPHIA :
ED. HARRINGTON & GEO. D. HASWELL,

MARKET STREET

AK

EXPOSITION,

WITH

PRACTICAL, OBSERVATIONS

UPON THE

POETICAL BOOKS

OF THE

OLD TESTAMENT,

NAMELY^

JOB,

PSALMS,

PROVERBS,

ECCLESIASTES,

AlTD

SOLOMON'S SONG.

, '\

THE

PREFACE

TO THK

POETICAL BOOKS.

These five books of scripture, which I have here endeavoured, according to the measure of the gift
given to me, to explain and improve, for the use of those who desire to read them, not only with under-
standing, but to their edification — though they have the same divine origin, design, and authority, as
those that went before, yet, upon some accounts, are of a very different nature from them, and froni the
rest of the sacred writings: such variety of methods has Infinite Wisdom seen fit to take, in conveying the
light of divine revelation to the children of men, that this heavenly food might have (as the Jews sa\ of
the manna) something in it agreeable to ever)' palate, and suited to every constitution. If every eye be
not thus oj)ened, every mouth will be stopped, and such as perish in their ignorance will be left without
excuse. IVe have fiified unto you, and ye have not danced: ivehave mourned unto you, and ye have hot
lamented, MaXth. xi. 17.

1. The books of scripture have hitherto been, for the most part, very plain and easy narratives of mat-
ter of fact, which he that runs may read and understand, and which are milk for babes, such as they can
receive and digest, and both entertain and nourish themselves with. The waters of the sanctuary have
liitherto been but to the ankles or to the knees, such as a lamb might wade in, to drink of and wash
in; but here we are advanced to a higher form in God's school, and have books put into our hands, where-
in are many things dark, and hard to be understood, which we do not apprehend the meaning of so sud-
tlenly and so certainly as we could wish; the study whereof requires a more close application of mind, a
greater intenseness of thought, and the accomplishing of a diligent search, which yet the treasure hid in
them, when it is found, will abundantly recompense. The waters of the sanctuary are here to the loins,
and still, as we go forward, we shall find the waters still risen in the prophetical books, waters to snvim
in, (Ezek. xlvii. 3««5.) not fordable, nor otherwise to be passed over; depths in which an elephant will
not find footing; strong meat for strong meji. The same method is observable in the New Testament,
where we find the plain history of Christ and his gospel placed first in the Evangelists, and the Acts of
the Apostles; then the mystery of both in the Epistles, which are more difficult to be understood; and,
lastly, the prophecies of things to come, in the Apocalyptic visions.

This method, so exactly observed in both the Testaments, directs us in what order to proceed, both in
studying the things of God ourselves, and in teaching them to others; we must go in the order that the
scripture does; and where can we expect to find a better method of divinity, and a better method of
preaching.^

1. We must begin with those things that are most plain and easy, as, blessed be God, those things are
wliich are most necessary to salvation, and of the greatest use. We must lay our foundation firm, in a
sound experimental knowledge of the principles of religion, and then the superstructure will be well-
reared, and stand firm. It is not safe to launch out into the deep at first, or to venture into points difficult
and controverted, until we have first thoroughly digested the elements of the oracles of God, and turned
them insuccum et sanguinem— juice and blood. Those that begin their Bible at the wrong end, cnmmonlv
use their knowledge of it in the wrong way.

And, in training up others, we must be sure to ground them well at first in those truths of God which
are plain, and in some measure level to their capacity, which we find they take and relish, and know
how to make use of, and not amuse those that are weak with things above them, things of doul^tful dis-
putation, which they cannot apprehend any certainty of, or advantage by. Our Lord Jesus spake the
word to the people as they were able to hear it, (Mark iv. 33.) and had many things to say to his disci-
ples which he did not say, because as yet they could not bear them, John xvi. 12, 13. And those whom
St. Paul could not sfieak to as unto spiritual — though he blamed them for their backwardness, yet he ac-
commodated himself to their weakness, and spake to them as unto babes in Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2.

2. Yet we must not rest in these things; we must not be always children, that have need of milk, but,
nourished up witli that, and gaining strength, we must go on to perfection, (Heb. vi. 1.) that, having, by
reason of use, our spiritual senses exercised, we may come to full age, and put away childish things, and,
forgetting the things which are behind, (Heb. v. 14.) that is, so well remembering them, (Phil. iii. 13.^
that we need not be still poring over them, as those that are ever learning the same lesson, we may reach

v^i PREFACE.

t .!th to the things which are before. Though we must never think to learn abo\'e our B".l)]e, as long as
we are here in this world, yet we must still be getting forward in it. Ye have divelt long enough in lliia
mountain; now turn you, and take your journey onward in the wilderness toward Canaan: our motto must
be Plus ultra — Onward. And then shall we know, if thus, by regular steps, (Hos. vi. 3.) we folloiv on
to know the Lord, and what the mind of the Lord is.

II. The books of scripture ha\ e hitherto been mostly historical, but now the matter is of another na-
ture; it is doctrinal and devotional, preaching and praying. In this way of writing, as well as in the forme: ,
a great deal of excellent knowledge is conveyed, which ser\ es very valuable pui-poses. It will be of gor.d
use to know, not only what others did that went before us, arxl how they fared, but what their notions
and sentiments were, what their thoughts and affections were, that we may, with the help of them, form
our minds ariijht.

Plutarch's Morals are reputed as useful a treasure in the commonwealth of learning as Plutarcli's Lives;
and the wise disquisitions and discourses of the philosophers, as the records of the historians; nor is this
divine philosophy, (if I may so call it,) which we have in these books, less needful, or less serviceable,
to the church, than the sacred history was. Blessed be God for both.

III. The Jews make these books to be given by a divine inspiration somewhat different from that both
of Moses and the prophets. The)*, divided the books of the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets,
and the '3^no — the H-nVm^s, which Epiphanius emphatically translates r(3«<j)«7=c — Things written, and
these books are more commonly called among the Greeks 'Ayioyfia.<pi — Holy Writings: the Jews attribute
them to that distinct kind of inspiration which they call a^-ipnnn — T'/ie Holy S/iirit. Moses they supposed
to write by the Spirit, in a way abo\ e all the other prophets, for with him God spake mouth to mouth,
even apfiarently ; knew him, (Numb. xii. 8.) that is, conversed with him face toj'ace, Deut. xxxiv. 10.
He was made partaker of divine revelation, (as Muimonides distinguishes, De hund, Legis, c. 7.) per
vigiliam — while awake,* whereas God 'manifested himself to all the other prophets in a di'eam or vision:
and he adds, th it Moses understood the words of prophecy without any perturbation or astonishment of
mind, whereas the other prophets commonly fainted and were troubled. But the writers of the Hagio-
grapha they suppose to be inspired in a degree somewhat below that of the other prophets, and to
receive divine revelation, not as they did, by dreams, and visions, and voices, but (as Maimonides de-
scribes it. More JVevochim — fiart 2. ch. 45.) they perceived some power to rise within them, and rest
upon them, which urged and enabled them to write or speak far above their own natural ability, in psalms
or hvmns, or in history, or in rules of good living, still enjoying the ordinary vigour and use of their senses.
liCt David himself describe it. The Sfiirit of the Lord sfiake by me, and his word was in my tongue: the
God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, 3. This gives such a magnificent ac-
cnmt of the inspiration by which David wrote, that I see not why it should be made inferior to that of the
other prophets, for David is expressly called a firo/ihet. Acts ii. 30.

B it, since our hand is in with the Jewish masters, let us see what books they account Hagiography.
These five that are now before us come, without dispute, into this rank of sacred writers, and the book of
t'le Laii\entations is not unfitly added to them. Indeed, the Jews, when they would speak critically,
reckon all those songs which we meet with in the Old Testament among the Hagiographa; for, though
tliey were penned by prophets, and under the direction of the Holy Ghost, yet, because they were not
the p'oper result of a.visu?n firopheticum — prophetic vision, they were not strictly prophecy. As to the
Historical Books, they distinguish; (but I think it is a distinction without a difference;) some of them they
assign to the prophets, calling them t\\t profihe'x priores — the former firophets, namely, Joshua, Judges,
and the two books of the Kings; but others they rank among the Hagiographa, as, the book of Ruth,
(which yet is but an appendix to the book of Judges,) the two books of Chronicles, with Ezra, Nehemiah,
and the book of Esther, which last the Rabbins have a great value for, and think it is to be had in equal
esteem with the law of Moses itself, that it shall last as long as it lasts, and shall survive the writings of
the prophets. And, lastly, they reckon the book of Daniel among the Hagiographa,! for which no reason
can be given, since he was not inferior to any of the prophets in the gift of prophecy: and, therefore, the
learned Mr. Smith thinks that their placing him among the Hagiographical writers was fortuitous, and by
mistake. :|: »

Mr. Smith, in his Discourse, before quoted, though he supposes this kind of divine inspiration to be
more " fiacatc and serene than that which was strictly called prophecy, not acting so much upon the imagi-
nation, but seating itself in the higher and purer faculties of the soul, yet shows that it manifested itself
t ) be of a divine nature, not only as it always acted pious snuls into strains of devotion, or moved tlieni
strangely to dictate matters of true piety and goodness, but as it came in abruptly upon the minds of thosv!
holy men, and transported them from the temper of mind they were in before; so that they perceived
themselves captivated by the power of some higher light than that which their own understanding com-
monly poured out upon them; and this, says he, was a kind of vital form to that light of divine and sanc-
tified re I son which they were perpetually possessed of, and that constant frame of holiness and goodness
which dwelt in their hallowed minds." We have reason to glorify that God of Israel who gave such
ftovjrr unto mm, and has here transmitted to us the blessed products of that power.

IV. The stvle and composition of tliese books are different from those that go befoi-e and those thut
fallow. Ovu- Sa\ iour divides the books of the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets, and the Ps.dms,
(Luke xxiv. 44.) and thereby teaches us to distinguish those books that are poetical, or metrical, from
t \e L iw and the Prophets; and such are all these that are now before us, except Ecclesiastes, which yet,
having something restrained in its style, may well enough be reckoned among them. They are books
in verse, according to the ancient rules of versifying, though not according to the Greek and Latin
prosodies.

S'^mc of the ancients call these five books the second Pentateuch of the Old Testament,^ five snrred
volumes, which arc as the satellites to the five books of the law of Moses. Gregory .Yar.iunzen, [carm.
33. /;. 98.1]) r,\lls these <t\ <rtx'^p^i Trivn — the five metrical books; first, Jolj, (so he reckons t'leni up,) then
David, then the three of Solomon, Ecclcsiistes, tlie Song, and Proverbs, jlmfihilochius, Bishcp nt Ico
nium, in his Iambic Poem to Srleiicus, reckons them up particularly, and calls them r/;:^"/'"^ tts'vts Bi0\;i(~

* See Mr Smith's Uisciiurse on I'ruplii-ty, rA. II t Ilil. Mcgil c -2 ^11. t Vii! Ilnttincpr. Tlirsnur. I'liilnl. lib 0 r.ip. 1. ^3

^Damasceii. Grlhod. Fid. I. 4. tap. 18. (I Viil. Siiicer. Tliesaur. in O'X'^h

PREFACE. ' vii

the Jive verse-books. Efiifihanius, (lib. de fionder. et mensur. fi. 533. J Triyrt riy^pii: — (he ^ve verse-
books. And CyrU. Hierosol. Collect. A. p. Cmihi — m Tnj/ cq/zy J 30. calls these five books ra s-i;t«/ia — books
in verse. Polychronius, in his prologue to Job, says, that, as those that are without, call their tragedies
and comedies noi>\Tix.a. — Poetics, so, in sacred writ, those books which are composed in Hebrew metre,
(of which he reckons Job the first,) we call Ti^iipa ht0xid — Hooks in verse, written koto, g-i^ov — according
to order. What is written in metre, or rhythm, is so called from /utTpo; — a measure, and o.pifijuo( — a nu?n-
her, because regulated by certain measures, or numbers of syllables, which please the ear with their
smoothness and cadency, and so insinuate the matter the more movingly and powerfully into the fancy.

Sir William Temple,* in his essay upon poetry, thinks it is generally agreed to have been the first sort
of writing that was used in the world; nay, that, in several nations, poetical compositions preceded the
very invention or usage of letters. The Spaniards (he says) found in America many strains of poetry,
and such as seemed to flow from a true poetic vein, before any letters were known in those regions. The
same (says he) is probable of the Scythians and Grecians: the oracles of Apollo were delivered in verse;
so were those of the Sibyls. And Tacitus says, that the ancient Germans had no annals or records but
what were in verse. Homer and Hesiod wrote their poems (the very Alcoran of the Pagan Dsmonology)
many ages before the appearing of any of the Greek philosophers or historians; and, long before them,
(if we may give credit to the antiquities of Greece,) even before the days of David, Orpheus and Linus
were celebrated poets and musicians in Greece; and, at the same time, Carmenta, the mother of Evander,
who was the first that introduced letters among the natives of Greece, was so called a carmine^'rom a
song, because she delivered herself in verse. And in such veneration was this way of writing among the
ancients, that their poets were called Vates — Prophets, and their muses were deified.

But, which is more certain and considerable, the most ancient composition that we meet with in scrip-
ture was the song of Moses at the Red Sea, (Exod. xv. ) which we find before the very first mention of
writing, for that occurs not until Exod. xvii. 14. when God bade Moses write a memorial of the war with
Amalek. The first, and indeed the true and general end of writing, is, the help of memory; and poetry
does in some measure answer that end, and even in the want of writing, much more with writing, helps
to preserve the remembrance of ancient things. The book of the wars of the Lord, (Numb. xxi. 14.)
and the book of Jasher, (Josh. x. 13. 2 Sam. i. 18.) seem to have been both written in poetic measures.

Many sacred songs we meet with in the Old Testament, scattered both in the historical and proplietical
books, penned on particular occasions, which, in tli^ opinion of very competent judges, "have in them as
true and noble strains of poetry and picture as are met with -in any other language whatsoever, in spite
of all the disadvantages from translations into so different tongues and common prose;f nay, are nobler
examples of the true sublime style of poetry than any that can be found in the Pagan writers; the images
are so strong, the thoughts so great, the expressions so divine, and the figures so admirably bold and
moving, that the wonderful manner of these writers is quite inimitable.":}: It is fit that what is emploved
in the service of the sanctuary should be the best in its kind.

The books here put together are poetical. Job is an heroic poem; the book of Psalms, a collection of
divine odes or lyrics; Solomon's Song, a pastoral and an epithalamium: they are poetical, and yet sacred
and serious, grave and full of majesty. They have a poetic force and flame, without poetic fuiy and
fiction, and strangely command and move the affections, without corrupting the imagination, or putting
a cheat upon it; and while they gratify tlie ear, they edify the mind, and profit the more by pleasing. It
is, therefore, much to be lamented that so powerful an art, which was at first consecrated to the honour
of God, and has been so often employed in his service, should be debauched, as it has been, and is at this
day, into the service of his enemies; that his corn, and wine, and oil, should be prepared for Baal.

V. As the manner of the composition of these books is excellent, and very proper to engage the atten-
tion, move the affections, and fix them in the memory, so the matter is highly useful, and such as will be
every way serviceable to us. They have in them the veiy sum and substance of religion, and what they
contain is more fitted to our hand, and made ready for use, than any part of the Old Testament; upon
which account, if we may be allowed to compare one star with another, in the firmament of the scripture,
these will be reckoned stars of the first magnitude.

All scripture is profitable (and this part of it in a special manner) for instruction in doctrine, in devo-
tion, and in the right ordering of the conversation. -The book of Job directs us what we are to believe
concerning God; the book of Psalms, how we are to worship him, pay our homage to him, and maintain
our communion with him; and then the book of the Proverbs shows very particularlv how we are to
govern oursehes h -rda-yi avets-po<pv — in every turn of human life: thus shall the man of God, bv a due at-
tendance to these lights, be perfect, thoroughly furnished for e\ cry good work. And these are placed
according to their natural order, as well as according to the order of time; for very fitlv are we first led
into the knowledge of God, our judgments riglitly formed concerning him, and our mistakes rectified;
and then instructed how to worship him, and to choose the things that please him.

We have here much of natural religion, its principles, its precepts — much of God, his infinite perfec-
tions, his relations to man, and his government both of the world and of the church : here is much of Christ,
who is the Spring, and Soul, and Centre, of revealed religion, and whom both Job :md David were emi-
nent types of, and had clear and happy prospects of. We have here that which will be of use to enlight-
en our understandings, and to acquaint us more and more with the things of God, with the deep things of
God; speculations to entertain the most contemplative, and discoveries to satisfy the most inquisitive, and
increase the knowledge of those that ai-e most knowing. Here is that also which, with a divine light,
will bring into the soul the heat and influence of a divine fire, will kindle and inflame pious and devout
affections, on which wings we may soar upward, until we enter into the holiest. We may here be in the
mount with God, to behold his .beauty; and when we come down from that mount, if we retain (as we
ought) the impressions of our devotion upon our spirits, and make conscience of doing that good which
the Lord our God here requires of us, our faces shall shine before all with whom we converse, who shall
take occasion thence to glorify our Father vjhich is in heaven, Matth. v. 16.

Thus great, thus noble, thus truly excellent, is the subject, and thus capable of being impj-oved, which
gives me the more reason to be ashamed of the meanness of my performance, that the comment breathes
so little of the life and spirit of the text. "V^^e often wonder at those that are not at all affected with the

* Miscell. part 2. | Sir W. Temple, p. 329. X Sir R. Blacttmore's preface to Job.

vm PREFACE.

great things of God, and have no taste or relish of them, because they know little of them : but, perhaps,
we have more reason to wonder at ourselves, that, conversing so frequently, so intimately, with them,
we are not more affected with them, so as even to bt wholly taken up with them, and in a continual
transport of delight in the contemplation of them. We hope to be so shortly in the meantime, though,
like the three disciples that were the witnesses of Christ's transfiguration upon the mount, we are but
dull and sleepy, yet we can say. Master, it w good to be here; here let us make tabernacles, Luke ix. 32, 33.
I have nothing here to boast of, nothing at all; but a great deal to be humbled for, that I have not come
up to what I have aimed at, in respect of fulness and exactness. In the review of it, I find many defects,
and those who are critical perhaps will meet with some mistakes in it; but I have done it with what care
I could, and desire to be thankful to God, who, by his grace, has carried me on in his work thus far: let that
gi-ace have all the glory, (Phil. ii. 13.) which works in us both to will and to do whatever he will or do,
that is good, or serves any good purpose. What is from God, I trust, shall be to him, shall be graciously
accepted by him, according to what a man has, and not according to what he has not, and shall be of
some use to his church; and what is from myself, that is, all the defects and errors, shall, I tinist, be
favourably passed by and pardoned. That prayer of St, Austin is mine, Domine Deus, gusecungue dixi
in his libris de tuo, agnoscant et tut; et gux de mco, et tu ignoseeet tui — JLord God, whatever I have main-
tained in these books corresfiondent with what is contained in thine, grant that thy people may approve as
well as thyself; whatever is but the doctrine of my book, forgive thou, and grant that thy people may
forgive also.

I must beg likewise to own, to the honour of our great Master, that I have found the work to be its
own wages; and that the more we converse with the word of God, the more it is to us as the honey and
the honeycomb, Ps. xix. 10. In gathering some gleanings of this harvest for others, we may feast our-
selves; and when we are enabled, by the grace of God, to do so, we are best qualified to feed others. I
was much pleased with the passage I lately met with of Erasmus, that great scholar and celebrated wit,
in an epistle dedicatory before his book De Ratione Concionandi, where, as one weary of the world and
the hurry of it, he expresses an earnest desire to spend the rest of his days in secret communion with
Jesus Christ, encouraged by his gracious invitation to those who labour and are heavy-laden to come unto
him for rest; (Matth. xi. 28.) and this alone is that which he thinks will yield him true satisfaction. I
think his words worth transcribing, and such as deserve to be inserted among the testimonies of great
men to serious godliness. Kegue guisguam facile cr^at guam misere animus jamdudum affectet ab his
laboribus in tranguillum oMum secedere, guodgue superest vitge, (superest autem vix brevis palmus srve
pugillus,) solum cum eo solo collogui, gui clamavit olim, (nee hodie mutat vocem suam,) " Venite ad
me, omnes gui laboratis, et onerati estis, ego rejiciam vos;" guandoguidem in tam turbulento, ne dicam
furente, sseculo, in tot molestiis guaa vel ipsa tempora publici invehunt, vel privatim adfert setas ac va-
letudo, nihil reperio in guo mens mea libentiius conguiescat guam in hoc arcano colloguio — J^o one will
easily believe ho%v anxiously, for a long time past, J have wished to retire from these labours into a scene
oftranguillity, and, during the remainder of life, (dwindled, it is true, to the shortest span, J to converse
only with him who once cried, (nor does he now retract, J " Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are
heavy-laden, and I will refresh you;" for in this turbulent, not to say furious, age, the many public
sources of disguietude connected with the infirmities of advancing age leave no solace to my mind to be com-
pared with this secret communion. In the pleasing contemplation of the divine beauty and benignity we hope
to spend a blessed eternity, and therefore in this work it is good to spend as much as may be of our time.
One volume more, containing the Prophetical books, will finish the Old Testament, if the Lord con-
tinue my life, and leisure, and ability of mind and" body for this work. It is begim, and I fir.-i it will be
larger than any of the other volumes, and longer in the doing; but as God, by his grace, shall funiish me
for it, and assist me in it, (without which grace I am nothing, less than nothing,) it shall be carried on
with all convenient speed; and sat cito, si sat bene — if with sufficient ability, it will be with sufficient speed.
I desire the prayers of my friends, that God would minister seed to the sower, and bread to the eaters,
(Isa. Iv. 10.) that he would multiply the seed sown, and increase the fruits of our righteousness; (2 Cor.
ix. 10.) that so he who sows and they who reap may rejoice together; (John iv. 36.) and the great Lord
of the harvest shall have the glory oi alU

M. H.
Cheater, May 13, 1710.

AN

EXPOSITION,

WITH

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS,
OF THE BOOK OF

JOB.

This book of Job stands by itself, is not connected with any other, and is therefore to be considered alone.
Many copies of the Hebrew Bible place it after the book of Psalms, and some after the Proverbs, which
perhaps has given occasion to some learned men to imagine it to be written by Isaiah, or some of the
later prophets. But, as the subject appears to have been much more ancient, so we have no reason to
think but that the composition of the book was, and that therefore it is most fitly placed first in this
collection of divine morals: also, being doctrinal, it is proper to precede, and 'introduce, the book of
Psalms, which is devotional, and the book of Proverbs, which is practical; for how shall we worship
or obey a God whom we know not?

As to this book,

I. We are sure that it is given by insfiiration of God, though ive are not certain who was the fienman of
it. The Jews, though no friends to Job, because he was a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, yet,
as faithful conservators of the oraclen of God committed to them, always retained this book in their sa-
cred canon. The history is referred to by one apostle; (James, v. 11.') and one passage {ch. v. 13.) is
quoted by another apostle, with the usual form of quoting scripture. It is written, 1 Cor. iii. 19. It is
the opinion of many of the ancients, that this history was written by Moses himself in Midian, and de-
livered to his suffering brethren in Egypt, for their support and comfort under their burthens, and the
encouragement of their hope that God would, in due time, deliver and enrich them, as he did this pa-
tient sufferer. Some conjecture that it was written originally in Arabic, and afterward translated into
Hebrew, for the use of the Jewish church, by Solomon, (so Monsieur Jurieu,) or some other inspired
writer. It seems most probable to me, that Elihu was the penman of it, at least of the discourses, be-
cause (ch. xxxii. 15, 16.) he mingles the words of an historian with those of a disputant: but Moses
perhaps wrote the two first chapters and the last, to give light to the discourses; for in them God is
frequently called Jehovah, but not once in all the discourses, except ch. xii. 9. That name was but
little known to the patriarchs before Moses, Exod. vi. 3. If Job wrote it himself, some of the Jewish
writers themselves own him afirofihet among the Gentiles; if Elihu, we find he had a spirit of prophecy
which filled him with matter, and constrained him, ch. xxxii. 18.

TI. We are sure that it is, for the substance of it, a true history, and not a romance, though the dialogues
are fioetical. No doubt there was such a man as Job; the prophet Ezekiel names him with Noah and
Daniel, Ezek. xiv. 14. The narrative we have here of his prosperity and piety, his strange afflictions
and exeniplary patience, the substance of his conferences with his friends, and God's discourse with
him out of^the whirlwind, with his retum, at length, to a very prosperous condition, no doubt, is exactly
true, though the inspired penman is allowed the usual liberty of putting the matter of which Job and
his friends discoursed, into his own words.

III. We are sure that it is very ancient, though we cannot fix the precise tiyne either when .Job lived, or
when the book was written. So many, so evident, are its hoaiy hairs, the marks of its antiquity, that
we ha\ e reason to think it of equal date with the book of Genesis itself, and that holy Job was contem-
poraty with Isaac and Jacob; though not co-heir with them <'f the promise of the earthly Canaan, vet a
joint-expectant with them of the better country, that is, t/ic heavenly. Probably, he was of the poste-
rity of Nahor, Abraham's brother, whose first-born was Cz, {(\en. xxii. 21.) and in whose family re-
ligion was, for some ages, kept up, as appears, Gen. xxxi. 53. where God is called, not only the God of
Abraham, but the God of JSTahor. He lived before the age of man was shortened to 70 of 80, as it was
in Moses's time; before sacrifices were confined to one altar; before the general apostasy of the nations
from the knowledge and worship of the true God; and while yet there was no other idolatry known
than the worship of the sun and moon, and that punished by the Judges, ch. xxxi. 26, 28. He lived
while God was known by the name of God Almighty, more than by the name of Jehovah; for he is

Vor-. HI. — R

10 JOB. I.

called Shaddai — the Almighty, above thirty times in this book: he lived while divine knowledge was
conveyed, not by writing, but by tradition ; for to that appeals are hei e made, ch: viii. 8. — xxi. 29. — xv
18. — V. 1. And we have therefore reason to think that he lived before Moses, because here is no
mention at all of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, or the giving of the law. Tliere is indeed one
passage which might be made to allude to the drowning of Pharaoh, {ch. xxvi. 12.) He dhndeth the sea
with his poiver, and by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab; which name Egypt is very fre-
quently called by in scripture, as Ps. Ixxxvii. 4. — Ixxxix. 10.. Isa. li. 9. But that may as well refer to
the proud waves of the sea. We conclude therefore that we are here got back to the patriarchal age,
and, beside its authority, we receive tliis book with \ eneration for its antiquity.
IV. We are sure that it is of great use to the church, and to every good Christian, though there are
inany passages in it dark and hard to be understood. We cannot perhaps be confident of the true
meaning of every Arabic word and phrase we meet with in it. It is a book that finds a great deal of
work for the critics; but enough is plain to make the whole profitable, and it was all written for our
learning. This noble poem presents to us, in very clear and lively characters, these five things among
others: —

1. A monument of firimitive theology. The first and great principles of the light of nature, on which
oatural religion is founded, are here, in a warm, and long, and learned, dispute, not only taken for
granted on all sides, and not the least doubt made of them, but by common consent plainly laid down as
eternal truths, illustrated and urged as affecting commanding truths. Were ever the being of God, his
glorious attributes and perfections, his unsearchable wisdom, his irresistible power, his inconceivable
glory, his inflexible justice, and his incontestable sovereignty, discoursed of with more clearness, fulness,
reveren -e, and divine eloquence, than in this book? The creation of the world, and the government of
it, are here admirably described, not as.matters of nice speculation, but as laying most powerful obliga-
tions upon us to fear and serve, to submit to, and trust in, our Creator, Owner, Lord, and Ruler. Moral
good and evil, virtue and vice, were never drawn more to the life, (the beauty of the one and the
deformity of the other,) than in this book; nor the inviolable rule of God's judgment more plainly laid
down. That happy are the righteous, it shall be well with them; and wo to the wicked, it shall be ill with
them. These are not questions of the schools, to keep the learned world in action, nor engines of state,
to keep the unlearned world in awe; no, it appears by this book that they are sacred truths of undoubt-
ed certainty, and which all the wise and sober part of mankind have in every age subscribed and sub-
mitted to.

2. It presents us with a sfiecimen of Gentile fiiety. This great saint descended, not from Abraham, but
Nahor; or, if from Abraham, not from Isaac, but from one of the sons of the concubines that were sent
into the east country; (Gen. xxv. 6.) or, if from Isaac, yet not from Jacob, but Esau; so that he was
out of the pale of the covenant of peculiarity, no Israelite, no proselyte, and yet none like him for
religion, nor such a favourite of heaven upon ttiis earth. It was a truth, therefore, before St. Peter
perceived it, that, iwevery nation, he that fears God, and works righteousness, is accepted of him. Acts
X. 35. There were children of God scattered abroad, (John xi. 52.) beside the incorporated children
of the kingdom, Matth. viii. 11, 12.

3. It presents us with an exposition of the book of Providence, and a clear and satisfactory solution of
many of the difficult and obscure passages of it. The prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of
the righteous, have always been reckoned two as hard chapters as any in that book; but they ai'e here
expounded, and reconciled with the divine wisdom, purity, and goodness, by the end of these things.

4. It presents us with a great example of patience, and close adherence to God, in the midst of the sorest
calamities. Sir Richard Blackmore's most ingenious pen, in his excellent preface to his paraphrase on
this book, makes Job a hero proper for an epic poem; for, (says he,) "He appears brave in distress,
and valiant in affliction, maintains his virtue, and with tint his character, under the most exasperating
provocations tliat the malice of hell could invent, and thereby gives a most noble example of passive
fortitude, a character no way inferior to that of the active hero," &c.

5. It presents us with an illustrious tyfie of Christ, the particulars of which we shall endeavour to take
notice of as we go along. In general. Job was a great sufferer, was emptied and humbled, but in order
to his greater glory. So Christ abused himself, that we might be exalted. The learned Bishop Patrick
quotes St. Jerom more than once speaking of Job as a type of Christ, who, for the joy that was set be-
fore him, endured the cross, who was persecuted for a time bv men and devils, and seemed forsaken
<jf God too, but was raised up to be an intercessor even for his friends that had added affliction to his
misery. When the apostle speaks oitYve patience of Job, he immediately takes notice of the end of the
Lord, that is, of the Lord Jesus, (as some understand it,) typified by Job, James v. 11.

In this l)ook we have, (1.) The history of Job's sufferings, and his patience under them, {ch. i, ii.) not
without a mixture of human frailty, ch. iii. (2.) A disjmte between him and his friends upon them, in
which, [1.] The opponents were "Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. [2.] The respondent was Job. [3.]
The moderators were. First, Elihu, ch. xxxii...xxxvii. ' Secondly, God himself, ch. xxxviii.-.xlit
("5. ) The issue of all in Job's honour and prosperity, ch. xlii. Upon the whole, we learn, that many are
tl\e afflictions of the righteous, but that, when the Lord delivers them out of all, the trial of their faith
will be found to praise, and honour, and glory.

JOB, I.

M

CHAP. 1.

The history of Job begins here, with an account, I, Of his
great piety in general, (v. 1.) and in a particular in-
stance, V. 5. II. Of his great prosperity, v. 2. .4. Ill-
Of the malice of Satan against him, and the permission
he obtained to try his constancy, v. 6. . 12. IV. Of the
surprising troubles that befell him; the ruin of his estate,
(y. 13 . . 17.) and the death of his children, v. 18, 19. V.
Of his exemplary patience and piety under these troubles,
V. 20. . 22. In all which, he is set forth for an example of
suffering affliction, from which no prosperity can secure
us, but through which integrity and uprightness will
preserve us.

J. y I ^HERE was a man in the land of
1 Uz, whose name was Job ; and that
man was perfect and upright, and one that
f"ared God, and eschewed evil. 2. And
there were born unto him seven sons and
three daughters. 3. His substance also was
seven thousand sheep, and three thousand
camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and
five hundred she-asses, and a very great
household ; so that tiiis man was the great-
est of all the men of the east.

Concerning Job, we are here told,

I. That he was a m in; therefore subject to like
passions as we are. He was Ish, a worthy man, a
man of note and eminency, a magistrate, a man in
avithority. The country he lived in was the land of
Uz, in the eastern part of Arabia, which lay toward
Chaldea, near Euphrates, probably not far from Ur
of the Chaldees, whence Abraham was called.
When God called one good man out of that coun-
trv, yet he left not himself ivithoiU witness, but
raisecl up another in it to be i\. preacher of righteous-
fiefis. God has his remnant in all places, sealed ones
nut of every nation, as well as out of every tribe of
Israel, Rev. vii. 9. It was the privilege of the land
of Uz to have so good a man as Job in it ; now it
was jirabia the Hapfiy indeed: and it was tlie
})raise of Job, that he was eminently good in so bad
a place; the worse others were round about him, the
better he was.

His name Job, or Jjob, (some say,) signifies one
hated, and counted as an enemy; others make it to
signify one that grieves, or groans; thus the sorrow
he carried in his nanie might be a check to his joy
in his prosperity. Dr. Cave derives it from Jaab,
to love, or desire, intimating how welcome his birth
was to his parents, and how much he was the desire
of their eyes; and yet there was a time when he
cursed the day of his birth. Who can tell what the
day may prove, which yet begins with a bright
morning* \

II. That he was a very good man, eminently
pious, and better than his neighbours. He mas fier-
f''ct and upright. This is intended to show us, not

only what reputation he had among men, (that he
was .generally taken for an honest man,) but what
was really his character; for it is the judgment of
God concerning him, and we are sure that is ac-
cording to truth. 1. Job was a religious man, one
that feared God, that is, worshipped him according
to his will, and governed himself bv the rules -oJF
the divine law in every thing. 2. He was sincere
in his religion; he was perfect, not sinless; he him-
self owns, (ch. ix. 20.) Tf I say I am perfect, I shall
be proved perx<erse. But, having a respect to all
God's commandments, aiming at perfection, he
was really as good as he seemed to be, and did not
dissemble in his profession of pietv; his heart was
sound, and his eye single. Sincerity is gospel-per-
fection; I know no religion without it. o. He was i.

upright in his dealings both with God and man ; whs
faithful to his promises, steady in his counsels, tn.c
to every trust reposed in him, and made conscieiut-
of all he said and did. See Isa. xxxiii. 15. Though he-
was not o/ Israel, he was indeed an Israelite with-
out guile. 4. The fear of God i-eigning in his hear:
was the principle that governed his whole con\ er-
sation. That made him perfect and upright, in \var<l
and entire for God, universal and uniform in religion ;
that kept him close and constant to his duty. ' He
feared God, had a reverence for his majesty, a re-
gard to his authority, and a dread of his wrath'. 5. He
dreaded the thought of doing what was wrong; witli
the utmost abhorrence and detestation, and, witli u
constant care and watchfulness, he eschewed evU,
avoided all appearances of sin and approaches to it,
and tliis, because of the fear of God, Neh. v. 15.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; (Prov. viii. 13.)
and then, by the fear of the Lord men depart fro?n
evil, Prov. xvi. 6.

III. That he was a man who prospered greatlv
in this world, and made a considerable figure iii
his country. He was prospei-ous, and yet pious.
Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible, for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven: with
God, even this is possible, and bv his grace the
temptations of worldly wealth are not insuperable.
He was pious, and his piety was a friend to his pros-
perity; for godliness has the promise of the life that
now is. He was prosperous, and his prosperity put
a lustre upon his piety, and gave him, who was so
good, so much greater opportunity of doing good.
The acts of his piety were grateful returns to God
for the instances of his prosperity; and, in the abun-
dance of the good things God gave him, he served
God the more cheerfully.

1. He had a numerous family; he was eminent
for religion, and yet not a hermit; not a recluse,
but the father and master of a family. It is an in-
stance of his prosperity, that his house was filled
with children, which are a heritage of the Lord,
and liis reward, Ps. cxxvii. 3. He had sez^en sons
and three daughters, v. 2. Some of each sex, and
more of the more noble sex, in which the family is
built up. Children must be looked upon as bless-
ings, for so they are, especially to good people, that
will give them good instructions, and set them good
examples, and put up good prayers for them. Job
had many children, and yet he was neither oppress-
ed nor uncharitable, I)ut very liberal to the poor,
ch. xxxi. 17, 8cc. Those that have great families to
provide for ought to consider, that what is prudent-
ly given in alms is set out to the best interest, and
put into the best fund for their children's benefit.

2. He had a e;ood estate for the support of his
family; his substance was considerable, v. 3. Riches
are called substance, in conformity to the common
form of speaking; otherwise, to the soul and another
world, they are but shadows, things that are not,
Prov. xxiii. 5. It is only in heavenly wisdom that we
inherit substance, Prov.' viii. 21. In those days, when
the earth was not fully peopled, it was, as now,
in some of the plantations, men might have ImkI
enough upon easy terms, if they had but where-
withal to stock it; and therefore Job's substance is
described, not by the acres of land he was lord of.
but,

(1.) Bv his cattle; sheep and camels, oxen and
asses. The numbers of each are here set down,
probably not the exact number, but thereabout, ;t
very few under or over. The sheep are put first,
because of most use in the family, as Solomon
observes, (Prov. xxvii. 25, 26, 27.) I^mbs for thv
clothing, and milk for the food of thy household.
Job, it is likely, \\^t\ silver and gold, as well as
Abraham; (Gen. xiii. 2.) but then men valued their
own and their neighbours' estates by that which was

•12

JOB. I.

tor service and present use, more than by that
which was for show and state, and fit only to be
hoarded. As soon as God had made man, and pro-
vided for his maintenance by the herbs and fruits, he
made him rich and great by givir^ him dominion
over the creatures, Gen. i. 28. That, therefore,
being still continued to man, notwithstanding his
defection, (Gen. ix. 2.) is still to be reckoned one of
the most considerable instances of men's wealth,
honour, and power, Ps. viii. 6.

(2.) By his servants; he had a very good house-
hold or husbandry, many that were employed for
him and maintained by him; and thus he both had
honour and did good; yet thus he was involved in a
threat deal of care, and put to a great deal of charge.
See the vanity of this world; as goods are increased,
they must be increased that tend them and occupy
them, and they tvill be increased that eat them; and
nvhat good has the owner thereof, save the beholding
of (hem with his eyes y Eccles. v. 11.

In a word. Job was the greatest of all the men of the
east; and tliey were the richest in the world: those
were rich indeed who were refilenished more than
the east, Isa. ii. 6. margin. Job's wealth, with his
wisdom, entitled him to the honour and power he
had in his country, whirh he describes, ch. xxix. and
made him sit chief. Job was upright and honest,
and yet grew rich, nay, therefore grew rich; for
honesty is the best policy, and piety and charity are
ordinarily the surest ways of thriving. He had a
great household and much business, and yet kept
up the fear and worship of God; and he and his
house served the Lord. The account of Job's piety
and prosperity comes before the history' of his great
afflictions, to show that neither will secure us from
the common, no, nor from the uncommon, calami-
ties of human life. Piety will not secure us, as Job's
mistaken friends thought, for all things come alike
to all; pros])erity will not, as a careless world
thinks; (Isa. xlvii. 8.) I sit as a queen, and therefore
shall see no sorroiv.

4. And his sons went and feasted in their
houses every one his day ; and sent and
railed for their three sisters, to eat and to
drink with them. 5. And it was so, when
the days of their feasting were g;one about,
that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose
uo early in the morning:, and offered burnt-
offerings according to the number of them
all : for Job said. It may be that my sons
have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.
Thus did Job continually.

We have here a further account of Job's prospe-
rity and his piety.

I. His great comfort in his children is taken no-
tice of as an instance of his prosperity; for our tem-
poral comforts are borrowed, depend upon others,
and are as those about us are. Job himself mentions
it as one of the greatest joys of his prosperous estate,
t\\2A hh children -w&re about him, ch. xxix. 5. They
kept a circular feast at some certain times; {xk 4.)
they tvent and feasted in their houses. It was a
comfort to this good man, 1. To see his children
grown up and settled in the world; all his sons were
in houses of their own, probably married; and to
each of them he had given a competent portion to
set up with. They that had been olive-plants
round his table, were removed to tables of their
own. 2. To see them thrive in their affairs,
:>nd able to feast one another, as well as to feed
t'lemselves. Good parents desire, promote, and
rejoice in, their children's wealth and prosperity,

as their own. 3. To see them in health, no sick-
ness in their houses; for that would have spoiled
their feasting, and turned it into mourning. 4. Es-
pecially to see them live in love and unity, and mu-
tual good affection; no jars or quarrels among them,
no strangeness, no shyness one of another, no strait-
handedness; but, though every one knew his own,
they lived with as much freedom as if they had had
all in common. It is comfortable to the hearts ot
parents, and comely in the eyes of all, to see bre-
thren thus knit together; Behold, hoiv good and
how fileasant it is! Ps. cxxxiii. 1. 5. It added to the
comfort, to see the brothers so kind to their sisters,
that they sent for them to feast with them; who
were so modest, that they would not have gone, if
theyhad not been sent for. Those brothers that slight
their sisters, care not for their company, and ha\ e
no concern for their comfort, are ill-bred and ill-
natured, and very unlike Job's sons. It seems their
feast was so sober and decent, that their sisters were
good company for them at it. 6. They feasted in
their own houses, not in public houses, where they
would be more exposed to temptations, and which
were not so creditable.

We do not find that Job himself feasted with
them; doubtless they invited him, and he would
have been the most welcome guest at any of their
tables; nor was it from any sourness or moroseness
of temper, or for want of natural affection, that he
kept away, but he was old and dead to those things,
like Barzdlai, (2 Sam.xix. 35.) and considered that
the young people would be more free and pleasant,
if there were none but themselves. Yet he would
not restrain his children from that diversion which
he denied himself. Young people may be allowed
a youthful liberty, provided they flee youthful lusts.

II. His great care about his children is taken no-
tice of as an instance of his piety : for that we are
really, which we are relatively. Those that are
good will be good to their children, and especially
do what they can for the good of their souls. Ob-
serve, {v. 5. ) Job's pious concern for the spiritual
welfare of his children.

1. He was jealous over them with a godly jea-
lousy: and so we ought to be over ourselves and
those that are dearest to us, as far as is necessary
to our care and endeavour for their good. Job had
given his children a good education, had comfort in
them, and good hope concerning them; and yet
he said, " It may be my sons have sinned in the
days of their feasting, more than at other times;
have been too merry, have taken too great a liber-
ty in eating and drinking, and have cursed God in
their hearts," that is, " have entertained atheistical,
profane, thoughts in their minds, unworthy notions
of God and his providence, and the exercises of re-
ligion." When they -were full, they were ready to
deny God, and to say, Who is the Lord? ready
(Prov. XXX. 9.) toforget God, and to say. The /low-
er of our hand h:\s gof (en us this wealth, Dcut. viii.
12, iJfc. Nothing alienates the mind moVe from God
than the indulgence of the flesh.

2. As soon as the days of their feasting were over,
he called them to the solemn exercises of religion:
not while their feasting lasted; (Let them take theii
time for that; there is a time for all things;) but,
when it was over, their good father reminded them
that they must know when to take up, and not think
to fare sumptuously every day; though they had
their days of feasting the week round, they must not
think to have them the year roimd; they had some-
thing else to do. Note, Those that are merry must
find a time to be serious.

3. He sent to them to prepare for solemn ordi-
nances, sent and sancdjied (hem; ordered them to
examine their own consciences, and repent of what
they had done amiss in their feasting; to lay aside

JOB, 1.

13

their vanity, and compose themselves for religious
exercises. Thus he kept his authority over them
for their good, and they submitted to it, though they
were got into houses of their own. Still he was the
priest of the family, and at his altar they all attend-
ed, valuing their share in his prayers more than
their share in his estate. Parents cannot give grace
to their children, (it is God that sanctifies,) but
they ought, by seasonable admonitions and coun-
sels, to further their sanctification. In their bap-
tism they were sanctified to God; let it be our de-
sire and endeavour that they may be sanctified/or
him.

4. He offered sacrifice for them, both to atone for
the sins he feared they had been guilty of in the
days of their feasting, and to implore for them mercy
to pardon, and grace to prevent, the debauching of
their minds, and corrupting of their manners, by
the liberty they had taken, and to preserve their
piety and purity.

For he, with mournful eyes, had often spy'd,
Scatter'd on Pleasure's siiiooih but Ireach'rous tide,
The sfwils of virtu(;overpower'd by sense,
And floating wrecks of ruiii'd innocence.

Sir R. Bl^ckmorg.

Job, like Abraham, had an altar for his family,
on which, it is likely, he offered sacrifice daily; but,
on this extraordinary occasion, he oflfered more
sacrifices than usual, and with more solemnity, ac-
cording to the number of them all, one for each
child. Parents should be particular in their ad-
dresses to God for the several branches of their
family; "For this child I prayed, according to its
particular temper, genius, and condition;" to which
the prayers, as well as the endeavours, must be ac-
commodated.

When these sacrifices were to be offered, (1.) He
rose early, as one in care that his children might not
lie long under guilt, and as one whose heart was
upon his work, and his desire towards it (2. ) He re-
quired his children to attend the sacrifice, that they
might join with him in the prayers he offered with
the sacrifice, that the sight of the killing of the
sacrifice might humble them much for their sins,
for which they deserved to die, and the eight of the
offering of it up might lead them to a Mediator.
This serious work would help to make them seri-
ous again, after the days of their gaiety.

Lastly, Thus he did continually; not only when-
ever an occasion of this kind recurred, for he that is
washed, needs to wash his feet: (John, xiii. 10.) the
acts of repentance and faith must be often renewed,
because we often repeat our transgressions; but, all
days, every day, he offered up his sacrifices, was
constant to his devotions, and did not omit them
any day. The occasional exercises of religion will
not excuse us from those that are stated. He that
serves God uprightly will serve him continually.

6. Now there was a day when the sons
of God came to present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came also among
tliem. 7. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? Then Satan an-
swered the Lord, and said. From going to
and fro in the earth, and from walking up
and down in it 8. And the Lord said
unto Satan, Hast thou considered my ser-
vant Job, that there is none like him in
the earth, a perfect and an upright man,
one that feareth God, and escheweth evil ?
9. Then Satan answered the Lord, and
said, Doth Job fear Gk)d for nought? 10.

Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and
about his house, and about all that he lialli
on eveiy side ? Thou hast blessed the work
of his hands, and his substance is increased
in the land: 11. But put forth thy hand
now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face. 12. And the
LoKD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he
hath is in thy power; only upon himself
put not forth thy hand. So Satan went
forth from the presence of the Lord.

Job was not only so rich and great, but withal so
wise and good, and had such an interest both in
heaven and earth, that one would think the moun-
tain of his prosperity stood so strong, that it could
not be moved; but here we have a thick cloud ga-
thering over his head, pregnant with a horrible
tempest We must never think ourselves secure
from storms, while we are in this lower region.

Before we are told how his troubles surprised and
seized him here in this visible world, we are here
told how they were concerted in the world of spirits;
that the De\ il having a great enmity to Job for his
eminent piety, begged and obtained leave to tor-
ment him. It does not at all derogate from the
credibility of Job's story in general, to allow that
this discourse between God and Satan, in these
verses, is parabolical, like that of Micaiah, (1 Kings
xxii. 19, &c. ) and an allegory designed to represent
the malice of the Devil against good men, and the
divine check and restraint that malice is under.
Only thus much further is intimated, that the af-
fairs of this earth are very much the subject of the
counsels of the unseen world. That world is dai k
to us, but we lie very open to it
Now here we have,

I. Satan among the sons of God, (v. 6. ) an ad-
versary (so Satan signifies) to God, to men, to all
good. He thrust himself into an assembly of the
sons of God, that came to firesent themselves before
the Lord. This means, either, 1. A meeting of the
saints on earth. Professors of religion, in the patri-
archal age, were called sons of God; (Gen. vi. 2.)
they had then their religious assemblies, and stated
times for them. The king came in to see his guests;
the eye of God was on all present: but there was a
serpent in paradise, a Satan among the sons of
God; when they come together, he is among them
to distract and disturb them, stands at their right
hand to resist them; the Lord rebuke thee, Satan.'
Or, 2. A meeting of the angels in heaven; they arc
the sons of God, ch. xxxviii. 7. They came to give
an accountof their negociations on earth, and to re-
ceive new instructions. Satan was one of them
originally; but how art thou fallen, O Lucifer!
He shall no more stand in that congregation; yet
he is here represented as coming among them,
either summoned to appear as a criminal, or con-
nived at, for the present, though an intruder.

II. His examination, how he came thither; {v.
7.) The Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest
thou? He knew very well whence he came, and
with what design he came thither; that, as the
good angels came to do good, he came for a per-
mission to do hurt; but he would, by calling him to
an account, show him that he was under check
and control. Whence comest thou? He asks this,
1. As wondering what brought him thither, h
Saul among the prophets? Satan among the sons of
God? Yes, for he transforms himself into an angel
of light, (2 Cor. xi. 13, 14.) and would seem rne
of them. Note, It is possible that a man may he
a child of the Devil, and yet be foimd in the asscm

14

JOB, I.

blies of the sons of God in this world, and there
may pass undiscovered by men, and yet be chal-
lenged by the all-seeing God; Friend, how earnest
thou in hither? Or, 2. As inquiring what he had
been doing before he came thither: the same ques-
tion was perhaps put to the rest of them that pre-
sented themselves before the Lord, " Whence came
youi"' We are accountable to God for all our
haunts, and all the ways we traverse.

III. The account he gives of himself, and the
tour he had made. I come (says \i€)frQm going to
and fro on the earth. 1. He could not pretend he
had been doing any good, could give no such ac-
count of himself as the sons of God could, who
presented themselves before the hord, who came
from executing his orders, serving the interest of
his kingdom, and ministering to the heirs of salva-
tion. 2. He would not own he had been doing any
hurt; that he had been drawing men from their
allegiance to God, deceiving and destroying souls;
no, I have done no wickedness, Prov. xxx. 20. 7'hy
servant went no whither. In saying that he had
walked to and fro through the earth, he intimates
that he had kept himself within the bounds allotted
him, and had not transgressed his tether; for the
dragon is cast out into the earth, (Rev. xii. 9.) and
not yet confined to his place of torment. While we
are on this earth, we are within his reach;' and
with so much subtlety, swiftness, and industry, does
he penetrate into all the corners of it, that we can-
not be in any place secure from his temptations. 3.
He yet seems to give some representation of his
own character. (1.) Perhaps it is spoken proudly,
and with an air of haughtiness, as if he were indeed
the firince of this world, as if the kingdoms of the
world and the glory of them were his, (Luke iv. 6.)
and he had now been walking in circuit through his
own territories. (2.) Perhaps it is spoken fretfully,
and with discontent; he had been walking to and
fro, and could find no rest, but was as much a
fugitive and a vagabond as Cain in the land of Nod.
(3.) Perhaps it is spoken carefully; " I have been
haid at work, going to and fro," or (as some read
it) "searching about in the earth;" really in quest
of an opportunity to do mischief. He walks about
seeking whom he may devour. It concerns us
therefore to be sober and vigilant.

IV. The question God puts to him concerning
Job, {y. 8.) Hast thou considered my serxmnt Job?
As when we meet with one that has been in a dis-
tant place, where we have a friend we dearly love,
we are ready to ask, "You have been in such a
place; pray did you see my friend there?" Observe,

1. How honourably God speaks of Job; he is my
servant. Good men are God's servants, and he is
pleased to reckon himself honoured in their ser-
vices, and that they are to him for a name and a
firaise, (Jer. xiii. l\.) and a ci-own of glory, Isa.
Ixxxii. 3. "Yonder is my servant Job; there is none
like him, none I value like him; of all the princes
and potentates of the earth, one such saint as he is
worth them all: none //^e Ajtm for uprightness and
serious piety; many do well, but he excellvth them
all; there is not to be found such great faith, no not
in Israel." Thus Christ, long after held up the
centurion and the woman of Canaan, who were
both of them, like Job, strangers to that common-
wealth. The saints glory in God; Who is like thee
among the gods? And he is pleased to glory in
them; Who is like Israel among the people? So
here, none like Job, none in the earth, that state of
imperfection; those in heaven do indeed far out-
shine him ; those who are least in that kingdom are
erreater than he; but on earth there is none his like.
There is none like him in that land: so some good
men are the glory of their country.

2. How closely he gi\ es to Satan this good cha-

racter of Job, Hast thou set thy heart on my ser
vant Job? Designing hereby, (1.) To aggravate
the apostasy and misery of that wicked spirit;
"How unlike him art thou!" Note, The holiness
and happiness of the saints are the shame and tor-
nient ot the Devil and the Devil's children. (2.)
I'o answer the Devil's seeming boast of the interest
he had in this earth; " I have been walking to and
fro in it," says he, " and it is all my own; all flesh
have corrupted their way; they all sit still, and are
at rest in their sins," Zech. i. 10, 11. " Nay hold,"
saith God, "Job is my faithful servant." Satan
may boast, but he shall not triumph. (3.) To an-
ticipate his accusations, as if he had said, "Satan,
I know thine errand, thou art come to inform
against Job; but hast thou considered him? Does
not his unquestionable character give thee the lie?"
Note, God knows all the malice of the Devil and
his instruments against his servants; and we have
an Advocate ready to appear for us, even before we
are accused.

V. The Devil's base insinuation against Job, in
answer to God's encomium of him. He cannot
deny but that Job feared God, but suggests that he
was mercenary in his religion, and therefore a hy-
pocrite, {v. 9.) Doth Job fear God for naught?
Observe, 1. How impatient the Devil was of hear-
ing Job praised, though it was God himself that
praised him.' Those are like the Devil, who cannot
endure that any body should be praised but them-
selves, but grudge at the just share of reputation
others have, as Saul, (1 Sam. xviii. 5, &c.) and the
Pharisees, Matth. xxi. 15. 2. How much at a loss
he was for something to object against him; he
could not accuse him of any thing that was bad,
and therefore charges him with by-ends in doing
good. Had the one half of that been true, which
his angry friends, in the heat of dispute, charged
him with, {ch. xv. 4. — xxii. 5.) Satan would, no
doubt, have brought it against him now; but no
such thing could be alleged, and therefore, 3. See
how slily he censures him as a hypocrite; not as-
serting that he was so, but only asking, " Is he not
so ?" This is the common way of slanderers, to
suggest that, by way of query, which yet they have
no reason to think is true; whisperers, backbiters!
Note, It is not strange if those that are approved
and accepted of God, be unjustly censured by the
Devil and his instruments; if they are otherwise
unexceptionable, it is easy to charge them with
hypocrisy, as Satan charged Job, and they have no
way to clear themselves, but patiently to wait for
the judgment of God. As there is nothing we
should dread more than being hypocrites, so there
is nothing we need dread less than being called and
counted so without cause. 4. How unjustly he ac-
cuses him as mercenary, to prove him a hypocrite.
It was a great truth that Job did not fear God for
naught; he got well by it, for godliness is great
gain: but it was a falsehood that he would not have
feared God if he had not got this by it, as the event
proved. Job's friends charged him with hypocrisy,
because he was greatly afflicted; Satan, because he
greatly prospered. It is no hard matter for those
to calumniate that seek an occasion. It is not mer-
cenary to look at the eternal recompense, in our
obedience; but to aim at temporal advantages in
our religion, and to make it subservient to that, is
spiritual idolatry, worshipping the creature more
than the Creator, and is likely to end in a fatal
apostasy; men cannot long serve God and mam-
mon.

VI. The complaint Satan made of Job's prospe-
rity, v. 10. Observe, 1. What God had done for
Job. He had ])rotected him, made a hedge about
him, for the defence of his peiSon, his family, and
all his possessions. Note, God's peculiar people

JOB, I.

]5

are taken under his special protection, they and all
that belong to them; divine grace makes a hedge
about their spiritual life, and divine providence
about their natural life, so they are safe and easy.
He had prospered him, not in idleness or injustice,
(the Devil could not accuse him of them,) but in
the way of honest diligence; TAou hast blessed the
luork of his handsj without that blessing, be the
hands ever so strong, ever so skilful, the work will
not prosper; but with that, his substance is wonder-
fully increased in the land: the blessing of the
Lord makes rich; Satan himself owns it. 2. What
notice the Devil took of it, and how he improved
it against him. The Devil speaks of it with \ exa-
tion; I see thou hast made a hedge about him,
round about; as if he had walked it round, to see
if he could spy ever a gap in it, for him to enter in
at, to do him a mischief; but he was disappointed;
it was a complete hedge. The wicked one saw it,
and was grieved, and argued against Job, that the
only reason why he served God was, because God
prospered him. " No thanks to him to be true to
the government that prefers him, and to serve a
Master that pays him so well. "

VII. The proof Satan undertakes to give of the
hypocrisy and mercenariness of Job's religion, if he
might but have leave to strip him of his wealth.
•' Let it be put to this issue," says he, v. 11. " make
him poor, frown upon him, turn thine hand against
him, and then see where his religion will be; touch
what he has, and it will appear what he is. If he
curse thee not to thy face, let me never be believed,
but posted for a false accuser. Let me perish, if he
curse thee not." So some supply the imprecation,
which the Devil himself modestly concealed; but
the profane swearers of our age impudently and
daringly speak out. Observe, 1. How slightly he
speaks of the affliction he desired that Job might
be tried with; "Do but touch all that he has, do
but begin with him, do but threaten to make him
poor; a little cross will change his tone." 2. How
spitefully he speaks of the impression it would make
upon Job. " He will not only let fall his devotion,
but turn it into an open defiance; not only think
hardly of thee, but even curse thee to thy face."
The word translated curse is barac, the same that
ordinarily and originally signifies to bless; but
cursing God is so impious a thing, that the holy
language would not admit the name: but that,
where the sense requires it, it must be so under-
stood, is plain from 1 Kings xxi. 10- 'IS. where the
word is used concerning the crime charged on Na-
both, that he did blaspheme God and the king.

Now, (1.) It is likely that Satan did think that
Job, if impoverished, would renounce his religion,
and so disprove his profession, and if so, (as a
learned gentleman has observed in his Mount of
Sfiirits,) Satan had made out his own universal em-
pire among the children of men. God declared Job
the best man then living: now, if Satan can prove
him a hypocrite, it will follow that God had not one
faithful servant among men, and that there was no
such thing as true and sincere piety in the world,
but religion was all a sham, and Satan was king de
facto — in fact, over all mankind. But it appeared
that the Lord knows them that are his, and is not
deceived in any. (2.) However, if Job should re-
tain his religion, Satan would have the satisfaction
to see him sorely afflicted: he hates good men, and
delights in their griefs, as God has fileasure in their
prosfierity.

VIII. The permission God gave to Satan to afflict
Job for the trial of his sincerity. Satan desired
God to do it. Put forth thy hand now. God
allowed him to do itj {y. 12.) "All that he has
it i?i thy hand; make the trial as sharp as thou
canst, do thy worst at him." Now, (1.) It is mat-

ter of wonder that God should give Satan such a
permission as this, should deliver the soul of hi*:
turtle-dove into the hand of the adversary, such a
lamb to such a lion; but he did it for his own glory,.
the honour of Job, the explanation of Providence,
and the encouragement of his afflicted people in ah
ages; to make a case, which, being adjudged, might
be a useful precedent. He suffered Job to be tried,
as he suffered Peter to be sifted; but took care that
his faith should not fail, (Luke xxii. 32.) and then
the trial of it was found unto praise, and honour,
and glory, 1 Pet. i. 7. But, (2.) It is matter of
comfort that God has the Devil in a chain. Rev.
XX. 1. He could not afflict Job without leave from
God first asked and obtained, and then no further
than he had leave; " Only upon himself put not
forth thine hand; meddle not with his body, but
only with his estate. " It is a limited power that the
Devil has; he has no power to debauch men, but
what they give him themselves, nor power to afflict
men, but what \s given him from above.

Lastly, Satan's departure from this meeting of
the sons of God. Before they broke up, Satan went
forth (as Cain, Gen. iv. 16.) from the presence of
the Lord; no longer detained before him (as Doeg
was, 1 Sam. xxi. 7. ) than until he had accomplished
his malicious purpose. He went forth, 1. Glad
that he had gained his point; proud of the permis-
sion he had to do mischief to a good man ; and, 2.
Resolved to lose no time, but speedily to put his
project in execution: he went forth now, not to go
to and fro, rambling through the earth, but, with a
direct course, to fall upon poor Job, who is care-
fully going on the way of his duty, and knows no-
thing of the matter. What passes between good
and bad spirits concerning us, we are not aware.

1 3. And there was a day when his sons
and his daughters were eating and drinking
wine in their eldest brother's house: 14.
And there came a messenger unto Job,
and said, The oxen were plowing, and the
asses feeding beside them; 15. And the
Sabeans fell ujioii them, and took them
away; yea, they have slain the servants
with the edge of the sword; and I only am
escaped alone to tell thee. 1 6. While he
ivas yet speaking, there came also another,
and said, The fire of God is fallen from
heaven, and hath, burnt up the sheep, and
the servants, and consumed them; and I
only am escaped alone to tell thee. 1 7.
While he was yet speaking, there came
also another, and said. The Chaldeans
made out three bands, and fell upon the
camels, and have carried them away, yea
and slain the servants with the edge of tfia
sword ; and I only am escaped alone to tell
thee. 1 8. While he was yet speaking, ther^
came also another, and said, Thy sons and
thy daughters were eating and drinking wine
in their eldest brother's house: 19. And,
behold, there came a great wind from the
wilderness, and smote the four corners of
the house, and it fell upon the young men,
and they are dead ; and I only am escaped
alone to tell thee.

We have here a particular account of Job's
troubles :

16

JOB, J.

I. Satan brought them upon him on the very day |
that his children began their course of feasting, at .
their ddest brother's house, {y. 13.) where, he i
having (we may suppose) the double portion, the
entertainment was the richest and most plentiful.
The whole family, no doubt, was in perfect repose,
and all were easy, and under no apprehension of
trouble, now when they revived this custom ; and
this time Satan chose, that the trouble, coming
now, might be the more grievous ; The night of my
tileasure has he turned into fear, Isa. xxi. 4.

II. They all come upon him at once ; while one
messenger of evil tidings was speaking, another
came ; and, before he had told his story, a third,
and a fourth, followed immediately. Thus Satan,
by the divine permission, ordered it, 1. That there
might appear a more than ordinary displeasure of
God against him in his troubles, and by that he
might be exasperated against Divine Providence,
as if it were resolved, right or wrong, to rum him,
and not give him time to speak for himself. 2.
That he might not have leisure to consider and re-
collect himself, and reason himself into a gracious
submission, but might be overwhelmed and over-
powered by a complication of calamities. It he
have not room to pause a little, he will be apt to
speak in haste, and then, if ever, he will curse his
God. Note, The children of God are often \\\ hea-
viness, through manifold temptations: deep calls to
deep, waves and billows, one upon the neck of
another. Let one affliction therefore quicken and
help us to prepare for another ; for how deep so-
ever we have drunk of the bitter cup, as long as we
are in this world, we cannot be sure that we have
drunk our share, and that it will finally pass from
us. 3. They took from him all that he had, and
made a full end of his enjoyments. The detail of
his losses answers to the foregoing inventory of his
possessions.

(1.) He had 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses,
and a competent number of servants to attend them;
and all those he lost at once, v. 14, 15. The ac-
. count he has of this, lets him know, [1.] That it
was not through any carelessness of his servants,
for then his resentment might have spent itself
upon them: the oxen were ploughing, not playing,
and the asses not suffered to stray, and so taken up
as waifs,* but feeding beside them, under the ser-
vants' eye, each in their place ; and they that pass-
ed by, we may suppose, blessed them, and said,
God speed the plough. Note, All our prudence,
care, and diligence, cannot secure us from afflic-
tion, no not from those affli^^ti ns which are com-
monly owing to imprudence and negligence. Ex-
cept the Lord keep the city, the watchman, though
ever so wakeful, wakes but in vain; yet it is some
comfort under a trouble, if it found us in the way of
our duty, and not in any by-path. '2.'\ That it
was through the wickedness of his neighbours the
Sabeans, a sort of robbers, perhaps, that lived by
spoil and plunder ; they carried off the oxen and
asses, and slew the servants that faithfully and
bravely did their best to defend them, and one only
escaped, not in kindness to him or his master, but
that Job might have the certain intelligence of it
by an eye-witness, before he heard it by a flying
report, which would have brought it upon him gra-
dually. We have no reason to suspect that either
Job or his servants had given any provocation to
these Sabeans to make this inroad; but Satan put it
into their hearts to do it, to do it now, and so
gained a double point, for he made both Job to
suffer, and them to sin. Note, When Satan has
God's permission to do mischief, he will not want
mischievous men to be his instruments in doing it,

• Good* found, but unclaimed. Ed.

for he is a spirit that works in the children of dia
obedience.

(2.) He had seven thousand sheep, and shep-
herds that kept them; and all those he lost at the
same time by lightning, x;. 16. Job was perhaps,
in his own mind, ready to reproach the Sabeans,
and fly out against them for their injustice and
cruelty, when the next news immediately directs
him to look upward; Thejire of God is fallen from
heaven. As thunder is his voice, so lightning is his
tire: but this was such an extraordinary lightning,
and levelled so directly against Job, that all his
sheep and shepherds were not only killed, but con-
sumed, by it at once, and one shepherd only left
alive to carry the news to poor Job. The Devil,
aiming to make him curse God and renounce his
religion, managed this part of the trial very art-
fully, in order thereunto. [1.] His sheep, with
which especially he used to honour God in sacri-
fice, were all taken from him, as if God were angry
at his offerings, and would punish him in those very
things which he had employed in his service.
Having misrepresented Job to God as a false ser-
vant, in pursuance of his old design to set Heaven
and earth at variance, he here misrepresented God
to Job as a hard Master, who would not protect
those flocks out of which he had so many burnt-
offerings: this would tempt Job to say. It is in vain
to serve God. [2.] The messenger called the
lightning the fire of God, (and innocently enough,)
but perhaps Satan thereby designed to strike into
his mind this thought, that God was turned to be
his enemy, and fought against him, which was
much more grievous to him than all the insults of
the Sabeans. He owns, {ch. xxxi. 23.) that de-
struction from God was a terror to him. How
terrible then were the tidings of this destruction,
which came immediately from the hand of God!
Had the fire from heaven consumed the sheep upon
the altar, he might have construed it into a token
of God's favour; but the fire consuming them in
the pasture, he could not but look upon it as a
token of God's displeasure: there had not been the
like since Sodom was burned.

(3.) He had three thousand camels, and servants
tending them; and he lost them all at the same time
by the Chaldeans, who came in three bands, and
drove them away, and slew the servants, v. 17. If
the fire of God, which fell upon Job's honest ser-
vants, who were in the way of their duty, had fallen
upon the Sabean and Chaldean robbers who were
doing mischief, God's judgments therein would
have been, like the great mountains, evident and
conspicuous; but when the way of the wicked
prospers, and they carry off their booty, when just
and good men are suddenly cut off, God's righte-
ousness is like the great deep, the bottom of which
we cannot find, Ps. xxxvi. 6.

(4.) His dearest and most valuable possessions
were his ten children; and to conclude the tragedy,
news is brought him, at the same time, that they
were killed, and buried in the ruins of the house in
which they were feasting, and all th^ servants th^t
waited on them, except one that came express with
the tidings of it, v. 18, 19. This was the greatest
of Job's losses, and which could not but go nearest
him; and therefore the Devil reserved it for the
last, that, if the other provocations failed, thl.s
might make him curse (iod. Our children arc
pieces of ourselves; it is very hard to part with
them, and touches a good man in as tender a pail
as any other. But to part with them all at once,
and for them to be all cut off in a moment, who had
been so many years his cares and hopes, went to
the quick indeed. [1.] They all died together,
and not one of them was left alive. David, though
jl a wise and good man, was very much discomposco

JOB, I.

17

bv the death of one son ; how hard then did it bear
ii;ioii poor Job, who lost them all, and, in one mo-
ment, was written childless! [2.] They died sud-
denly: had they been taken away by some lingering
disease, he had had notice to expect their death,
and prepare for the breach; but this came upon
him without giving him any warning. [3.] They
(lied when they were feasting and making merry:
hifd they died suddenly, when they were praying,
he might the better, have borne it; he would have
hoped that ;eath had found them in a good frame,
if their blood had been mingled with their sacri-
fices; but to have it mingled with their feast, where
he himself used to be jealous of them, that they
had sinned, and cursed God in their hearts — to
have that day come upon them at unawares, like a
thief in the night, when perhaps their heads were
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness; this
could not but add much to his grief, considering
what a tender concern he always had for his chil-
dren's souls, and that they were now out of the
reach of the sacrifices he used to offer, according
to the number of them all. See how all things
came alike to all. Job's children were constantly
prayed for by their father, and lived in love one
with another, and yet came to this untimely end.
[4. ] They died by a wind of the Devil's raising,
who is the firince of the fiower of the air; (Eph. ii.
2.) but it was looked upon to be an immediate hand
of God, and a token of his wrath. So Bildad con-
strued it; {ch. viii. 4.) Thy children have sinned
against him, and he has cast them aivay in their
transgressions. [5. ] They were taken away when
he had most need of them to comfort him under all
his other losses. Such miserable comforters are all
creatures; in God only we have a present help at
all times.

20. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle,
and shaved his head, and fell down upon
the ground, and worshipped, 21. And said.
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and
naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord. 22. In all this
fob sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

The Devil had done all lie desired leave to do
against Job, to provoke him to curse God; he had
touched all he had, touched it with a witness; he
whom the rising sun saw the richest of all the men
in the east, before niglit was poor to a proverb. If
his riches had been, as Satan insinuated, the only
principle of his religion, now that he had lost his
nches, he had certainly lost his religion; but the
account we have, in these verses, of his pious de- !
portment under his affliction, sufficiently proved the i
Devil a liar, and Job an honest man. ' I

I. He conducted himself like a man, under his
afflictions; not stupid and senseless, like a stock or
stone, not unnatural and unaffected at the death of i
his children and servants; no, (v. 20.) he arose, I
and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, which I
were the usual expressions of great sorrow, to show
that he Avas sensible of the hand of the Lord that |
was gone out against him; yet he did not break out ;
into any indecencies, nor discover any extravagant |
passion; he did not faint away, but arose, as a j
champion to the combat; he did not, in a heat, !
throw off his clothes, but very gravely, in confor-
mity to the custom of the country, rent his mantle,
his cloke, or outer garment; he did nr t passionately
tear his hair, but deliberately shaved his head; by
<tll which it appeared that he kept his temper, and
bravelv maintained the possession and repose of his

Vol. hi— C

own soul, in the midst of all these provocations.
The time when he began to show his teelings is ob-
servable; it was not till he heard of tlie death t.f
his children, and then he arose, then he rent liis
mantle. A worldly unbelieving heart would have
said, " Now that the meat is gone, it is well that
the mouths are gone too; now that there are nj
portions, it is well that there are no children;" but
Job knew better, and would have been tliankful it
Providence had spared his children, though he had
had little or nothing for them, for Jehovah-jireh,
the Lord ivill firovide. Some expositors, remem-
bering that it was usual with the Jews to rend tlieir
clothes when they heard blasphemy, conjtctuiv
that Job rent his clothes in a holy indignation at the
blasphemous thoughts which Satan now cast iiiti;
his mind, tempting him to curse God.

II. He conducted himself like a wise and gocd
m.m, under his alfiiction, like a fierfect and ufx-
right man, and one that feared God, and eschewed
the evil of sin more than that of outward trouble.

1. He humbled himself under the hand of God,
and accommodated himself to the pro-, idences he
was under, as one that knew Ixpw to want as well
as how to abound. When God called to weeping
and mourning, he wept and mourned, rent hin
mantle, and shaved his head; and, as one tliat
abased himself even to tlie dust before God, he fell
down upon the ground, in a penitent sense of s!ii,
and a patient submission to the will of God, accepting
the punishment of his iniquity. Hereby lie sliowed
his sincerity; {or hypocrites cry nottvhen God binds
them. Job xxxvi. 13. Hereby he prepared himself
to get good by the affliction; for how can we im-
prove the grief which we will not feel?

2. He composed himself with quieting conside-
rations, that he might not be disturbed, and put cut
of the possession of his own soul by these events:
he reasons from the common state of human life,
which he describes with application to liimscif;
JVa/ced came I (as others do) out of my mother's
ivomb, and naked shall I return thither, into the
lap of our common mother, the earth; as the child,
when it is sick or weary, lays its head in its m.o-
ther's bosom. Dust we were in our original, and
to dust we return in our exit, (Gen. iii. 19.) to the
earth as we were; (Eccl. xii. 7.) 7iaked shall we
return thither, wlience we were taken, namely, to
the clay, Job xxxiii. 6. St. Paul refers to this of
Job, (1 Tim. vi. 7.) We brought nothing of this
world s goods into the world, but have them from
others; and /; is certain that we caji carry nothing
out, but must leave them to others. We come into
the world naked; not only unarmed, but unclothed,
helpless, shiftless, not so well covered and fenced
as other creatures. The sin we are born in, makes
us naked to our shame, in the eves of the lioly Uod.
We go out of the world naked; the bodv doesj
though the sanctified soul gees clothed, 2 Cor. v.
3. Death strips us of all our enjoyments; clothing
can neither warm nor adorn a dead body. This
consideration silenced Job under all his losses. (1. )
He is but where he was at first; be looks upon
himself only as naked, not maimed, not wounded:
he was himself still his own man, when nothins;
else was his own, and therefore but reduced to his
first condition. Xemo tam pauper potest esse quam
-natus est — A'o one can be so poor as he was wheri
born. Mm. Felix. If we are impoverished, we
are not wronged, nor much hurt, for we are but as
we were born. (2.) He is but where he must hfve
been at last, and is oniv unclothed, or unloaded •
rather, a little sooner than he expected. If v.-e
put off our clothes before Ave go to bed, it is some
inconvenience, but it may be the better borne when
it is near bed-time.

3. He gave glory to God, and expressed himself

JOB, II.

■ipon this occasion with a great veneration for the
Divine Providence, and an awful submission to its
disposals; we may well rejoice to find Job in this
good frame, because this was the very thing upon
which the trial of his integrity was put, though he
did not know it. Tiie Devii said that he would,
under his affliction, curse God; but he blessed him,
,ir>d so proved himself an honest man.

(1.) He acknowledged the hand of God both in
the mercies he had formerly enjoyed, and in the af-
flictions he was now exercised with: The Lord
gave, and the Lord halh taken awaij. We must
own the Divine Providence, [!•] I^^ all our comforts.
God gave us our being, made us, and 7iot we our-
selves, gave us our wealth; it was not our own inge-
nuity or industry that enriched us, but God's blessing
on our cares and endeavours; he gave us power to
get wealth; not only made the creatures for us, but
bestowed upon us our share. [2. ] In all our crosses.
The same that gave, hath taken away; and may he
not do what he will with his own? See how he looks
above instruments, and keeps his eye upon the First
Cause; he does not say, " The Lord gave, and the
Sabeans and Chaldeans have taken away; God made
me rich, and the Devil has made me poor;" but,
"He that gave, has taken;" and, for that reason,
he is dumb, and has nothing to say, because God
did it: He that gave all, may take which and when,
how and how much, he pleases. Seneca could
argue thus, Abstulit, ned et dedit — He took away,
but he also gave; and Epictetus excellently, (cap.
15. ) " When thou art deprived of any comfort, sup-
pose a child taken away by death, or a part of thy
estate lost, say not uTr^Afo-* uutc — I have lost it; but,
iTTsSaiKA — I have restored it to the right owner. But
thou wilt object, (says he) xaxo? I ucpsAc^sno; — He is
a bad man, that has robbed me; to which he an-
swers, Ti J'i <roi y.iAii — What is it to thee, by what
hand he that gives re?nands what he gave?

(2.) He adores God in both. When all was gone,
he fell down and worshipped. Note, Afflictions
must not divert us from, but quicken us to, tlie ex-
ercise of religion. Weeping must not hinder sow-
ing, nor hinder worshipping. He eyed not only the
hand of God, but the name of God, in his afflicti' ms,
and gave glory to that. Blessed be the name of the
Lord. He has still the same great and good thoughts
of God that ever he had, and is as foi'ward as ever
to speak tliem forth to his praise; and can find in
his heart to bless (iod, even when he takes away,
as well as when he gives. Thus must we sijig both
of mercy and judgment, Ps. ci. 1. [1.] He blesses
God f.ir what was gi\ en, though now it was taken
'tway. When our comforts are i-emoved from us,
we must thank God that ever we had them, and
had them so much longer than we deserved. Na\',
[2.] He adores God, even in taking away, and gives
him honour by a willing submission; nay, he gi\es
him thanks for good designed him by his afflic-
tions, for gracious supports under his afflictions,
and the believing hopes he had of a happy issue at
last.

Lasthi, Here is the honourable testimony which
tlie Hoi}' Ghost gives to Job's constancy and good
conduct imder his afflictions. He passed his trials
with applause, v. 22. In all this. Job did not act
amiss, for he did not attribute folly to God, nor in
the leust reflect iqjon his wisdom in what he had
done. Discontent and imixitience do, in effect,
charge God with folly. Against the workings of
these, therefore, Job carefully watched; and so
must we, acknowledging, that as Ciod has done
light, but we have done wickedly, soCiod has done
wisely, but we have done foolishly, very foolishly.
They who not only keep their temper under crosses
:ind provocations, but keep up good thoughts of God
and sweet communion with liim, whetlier thci:- J

praise be of men or no, it will be of God, as Job here
was.

CHAP. II.

We left Job honourably acquitted, upon a fair trial be
tween God and Satan concerning him. Satan had leave
to touch, to touch and take, all he had, and was confi-
dent that he would then curse God to his (ace; but, oi>
the contrary, he blessed him, and so he was proved
an honest man, and Satan a false, accuser. Now, one
would have thought, this had been conclusive, and that
Job should never have had his reputation called in ques-
tion again: but Job is known to be armour of proof, and
therefore is here set up for a mark, and brought upon his
trial, a second time. I. Satan moved for another trial
which should touch his bone and his flesh, v. 1 . . 5. II.
God, for holy ends, permits it, v. 6. III. Satan smites
him with a very painful and loathsome disease, v. 7, 8.
IV. His wife tempts him to curse God, but he resists the
temptation, v. 9, 10. V. His friends come to condole
with him, and to comfort him, v, II . . 13. And in this
that good man is set forth for an example of suffering
affliction and of patience.

1 . A G A I N there was a day when the sons
XjL of God came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan came also
among them to present himself before the
Lord. 2. And the Lord said unto Satan,
From whence comest thou? And Satan an-
swered the Lord, and said. From going to
and fro in the earth, and from walking up
and down in it. 3. And the Lord said un-
to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant
Jol), that there is none like him in the earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that fear-
eth God, and escheweth evil? and still he
holdeth fast his integrity, although thou
movedst me against him, to destroy him
without cause. 4. And Satan ans\^ered
the Lord, and said. Skin for skin; yea, all
that a man hath will he give for his life: 5.
But put forth thy hand now, and touch his
bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to
thy face. 6. And the Lord said unto Sa-
tan, Behold, he is in thy hand ; but save his
life.

Satan, that sworn enemy to God and all good
men, is here pushing forward his malicious prose-
cution of Job, whom he hated because God loved
liim, and did all he could to separate between him
and his God, to sow discord, and make mischief,
l)etween them, urging God to afflict him, and then
urging him to blaspheme God. One would ha\ e
thought that he had enough of his former attempt
upon Job, in which he was so shamefully baffled and
disa])pointcd; but malice is restlessj the Devil and
his instruments are so. They that calumniate good
people, and accuse them falsely, will have their
saying, though the evidence to the contrary i^e ever
so'plain and full, and they ha\ e been cast in the
issue which they themselves have put it upon. Sa-
tan will have Jciij's cause called over I'.gain. The
malicious, unreasonable, importunity of that great
persecutor of the saints is represented, (Rev. xii.
10.) by his accusing them before our God day and
night, still repeating and urging that against them
wiiich lias been many a time answered: so did Satan
here accuse Job day after day. Here is,

I. The court set, and the prosecutor, or accuser,
making his appearance, {v. 1, 2.) as before, ch. i.
6, 7. The angels attended (}od's throne, and Satan

JOB, II.

19

among them. One would have expected him to
come and confess his mahce against Job, and his
mistake concerning "him; to cry, Peccavi — / have
done wrong, for belying one whom God spake well
of, and to beg pardon; but, instead of that, he comes
with a further design against Job. He is asked the
same question as before, IV/ience contest thou? And
answers as before, From going- to and fro in the
earth; as if he liad been doing no harm, though he
had been abusing that good man.

II. Tiie Judge himself of counsel for the accused,
and pleading for him; \y. 3.) " Haul thou consider-
ed my servant Job better than thou didst, and art
thou now at length convinced that he is a faithful
servant of n)ine, a fierfect and an upright man; for
thou seest he still holds fust his integrity'^" This is
now added to his character as a further achieve-
ment; intitead of letting go his religion, and cursing
God, he holds it faster than ever, as that which he
has now more than (U'dinary occasion for; he is the
same in adversity that he was in prosperity, and
rather better, and more hearty and li\eiy in bless-
ing God th:m ever he was, and takes root the faster
for being thus shaken. See, 1. How Satan is con-
demned for his allegations against Job; Ihou mov-
edst me against him, as an accuser, to destroy him
ivi'.hout cause. Or, "Thou in vam movedst me
to destrov him, for I will never do that." Good
men, when they are cast down, are not destroyed,
2 Cor. iv. 9. How well is it for us, that neither
men nor de\ ils ar*^ to be our judges, for perhaps
they would destroy us, right or wrong; but our
Judgment pr. ceedsfrom the Lord, whose judgment
never errs, or is biassed. 2. How Job is commend-
ed for his constancy, notwithstanding the attacks
made upon him; " Still he holds fast his integrity,
as his weapon, and thou canst not disarm him; as
his treasure, and thou canst not rob him of tliat;
nay, thine endeavours to do it make him hold it the
faster; instead of losing ground by the temptation,
he gets ground." God speaks of it with wonder,
and pleasure, and something of triumph in the pow-
er of his own grace; Still he holds fast his integrity.
Thus the trial of Jdb's faith was found to his p7-aise
and honour, 1 Pet. i. 7. Constancy crowns integrit3%

III. The accusation further prosecuted, v. 4.
What excuse can Satan make for the failure of his
former attempt? What can he say to palliate it,
when he had been so very confident that he should
gain his point? Why, truly, he has this to sny,. Skin
for skin, and all that a man has, will he give for
his life. Something of truth there is in this, that
self-iove and self-preservation are very powerful
commanding principles in the hearts of men. Men
love themselves better than their nearest relations,
even their children, that are pieces of themsehes;
will not only venture, but give, their estates to save
their lives. All account life sweet and precious,
and while they are themselves in health and at ease,
they can keep trouble from their hearts, whatever
they lose. We ought to make a good use of this
consideration, and while God continues to us our
life and health, and the use of our limbs and senses,
we should the more patiently bear the loss of other
comforts. See Matth. vi. 25.

But Satan grounds upon this an accusation of Job,
slily representing him, 1. As unnatural to those
about him, and one that laid not to heart the death'
of his children and servants, nor cared how many
of them had their skins (as I may say) stripped
over their ears, so long as he slept in a whole skin
himself As if he that was so tender of his chil-
dren's souls, could be careless of their bodies, and,
like the ostrich, hardened against his young ones,
as though they were not his. 2. As wholly selfish,
and minding nothing but his own ease and safetv, as
if his religion made him sour, and morose, and ill-

natured. Thus are the ways and people of Gf;d
often misrepresented by the De\ il and his agents.

IV. A challenge given to make a further trial cf
Job's integrity; {v. 5.) " Put forth thine hand nor.',
(for I find ?ny hand too short to reach him, and t'.o
weak to hurt him,) and touch his bone and his fiesh,
(that is with him the only tender part, 7nake him
sick with smiting him, Mic." \i. 13.) and then, I dare

' say, he will curse thee to thy face, and let go his in-
tegrity." Satan knew it, and we find it by expe-
rience, that nothing is more likely to luftle the
thoughts, and put the mind into disorder, than ac ute
; pain and distemper of body. There is no disputing
I against sense. St. Paul himself had mucli ado to
[ bear a thorn in the flesh, nor could he have borne it
without special grace from Christ, 2 Cor. xii. 7, 9.

V. A permission granted to Satan to make this
trial, V. 6. Satan would have had God put forth his
hand and do it; but he afflicts not willingly, nor
takes any pleasure in grieving the children of men,
much less his own children; (Lam. iii. 33.) and
therefore, if it must be done, let Satan do it, who
delights in such work: He is in thine hand, do thy
worst with him; (but with a proviso and limitation;)
only save his life, or his soul. Afflict him, but not
to death. Satan hunted for the precious life, would
ha\ e taken that if he might, in hopes that dying
agonies would have forced Job to curse his God;
but (iod had mercy in store for Job after this trial,
and therefore he must survive it, and, however he
is afflicted, must have his life given him for a prey.
If Ciod did not chain up the roaring lion, how soon
would he de\our us! As far as he permits the wrath
of "Satan and wicked men to proceed against his
people, he will make it turn to his praise and their's,
and the 7'e?nainder thereof he will restrain, Ps.
Ixxvi. 10. " Save his soul," that is, "his reason;"
(so some;) "preserve to him the use of that, for,
otherwise, it will be no fair trial; if, in his delirium,
he should curse God, that will be no disproof of his
integrity. It would be the language not of his heart,
but of his distemper.'"

Job, in being thus maligned by Satan, ^yas a type
of Christ, the first prophecy of whom was, that Sa-
tan should bruise his heel, (Gen. iii. 15.) and so he
was foiled, as in Job's case. Satan tempted him to
let go his integrity, his adoption; (Matth. iv. 6.)
If thou be the Son of God. He entered into the
heart of Judas who betrayed Christ, and (some
think) with his terrors put Christ into his agony in
the garden. He had permission to touch his bone
and his flesh, without exception of his life, because
by dying he was to do that which Job could not do;
destroy him that had the power of death, that is the
Devil.

7. So went Satan forth from the presence
of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils,
from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape him-
self withal ; and he sat down among the
ashes. 9. Then said his wife unto him, Dost
thon still retain thine integrity? Curse God,
and die. 10. But he said unto her, Thou
speakest as one of the foohsh women speak-
eth. What! shall we receive good at the
hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

The Devil, having got leave to tear and Wurry
poor Job, presently fell to work with him, as a tor-
mentor first, and then a- tempter. His own children
he tempts first, and draws them to sin, and after-
ward torments, when thereby he has brought then*

20

JOB, 11.

t:> ruin; but this child of God he tormented with af-
Riction, and then tempted to make a bad use of
his affliction. That which he airted at, was, to
make Job curse God; now here we are told what
course he took both to move him to it, and mo\e it
to him; both to give him the provocation, else it
would be to no purpose to urge him to it, and to give
him the information, else he would not have thought
of it: thus artfully is the temptation managed with
;iU the subtilty of the old serjDent, who is here play-
ing the same game against Job that he played
;igainst our first parents; (Gen. 3.) aiming to seduce
lum from his allegiance to his God, and to rob him
of his integrity.

I. He provokes him to curse God, by smiting him
with sore boils, and so making him a burthen to
himself, x<. 7, 8. The former attack was extreme-
ly violent, but Job kept his ground, bravely made
good the pass, and carried the day : yet he is still
imt girding on the harness, there is worse behind;
the clouds return after the rain; Satan, by the di-
vine permission, follows his blow, and now deep
calls unto deep.

1. The disease was very grievous with which Job
WHS seized; S;itan .s-mote /ii?n iv'uli boils, sore boils,
all over him, from head to foot; with an evil inflam-
mation, so some render it; an erysipelas, perhaps,
in a higher degree. One boil, v/hen it is gathering,
is torrnent enough, and gives a man abundance f f
pain and uneasiness. What a condition was Job
then in, that had boils all over him, and no part
free, and those of as raging a heat as the De\ il could
make them, and, as it were, set on fire of hell 1 The
small-pox is a \ery grievous and painful disease,
and would be much more terrible than it is, but that
we know the extremity of it ordinarily lasts but a
few days; how grievous then was Job's disease, who
was sniitten all over with sore boils or grievous ul-
cers, which make him sick at heart, put him to
exquisite torture, and to spread themselves o\er
him, th.1t he could lay himself no way for any ease.
If at any time we be exercised with sore and griev-
ous distempers, let us not think ourselves dealt with
any otherwise than as God has sometimes dealt with
the best of his saints and servants. We know not
how much Satan may have a hand (by divine per-
mission) in the diseases with which the children of
men, and especially the children of God, are afflict-
ed ; what infections that prince of the air may spread,
what inflammations may come from that fiery ser-
l)ent. We read of one whom Satan had bound many
vears, Luke xiii. 16. Should God suffer that roar-
ing lion to have his will against any of us, how mise-
rable would he soon make us!

2. His management of himself, in this distemper,
was verv strange, i\ 8.

(1.) Instead of healing salves he took a potsherd,
a piece of a broken pitcher, to scrafie himself with-
al: a very sad pass this poor man was come to.
When a man is sick and sore, he may bear it the
Ijetter, if he be well tended and carefully looked
after: many rich, people have, with a soft and ten-
der hand, charitably ministered to the poor in such
•I condition as this; even Lazarus had some ease
from the tongues of the dogs that came and licked his
sores; but poor Job has no help afforded him. [1.1
Nothing is done to his sores but what he does himself,
with his own hands. His children and servants are
all dead, his wife unkind, ch. xix. 17. He has not
wherewithal to fee a physician, or surgeon; and,
which is most sad of all, none of those he had for-
merly been kind to had so much sense of honour
and gratitude as to minister to him in his distress,
and lend him a hand to dress or wipe his running
sores, either because the disease was loathsome
.ind noisome, or because they apprehended it to be
■nf'.-ctious. Thus it was in the former days, as it

will be in the last days; men were i vers of their
own selves, unthankful, and without natural affec-
tion. [2. ] All that he docs to his sores is, to scrape
them; they are not bound up with s( ft rags, i,< r
mollified with ointment, not washed or kept clean:
no healing plasters laid on them, no opiates, no
anodynes, ministered to the poor patier.t, to alle-
viate the pain, and compose him to rest, nor nay
cordials to support his spirits; all the operatic n is
the scraping of the ulcers, which, when they a ere
come to a head, and began to die, made his h( dy
all over like a scurf, as is usual in the end <f ih'e
small-pox. It would ha\e been an endless iliing to
dress his boils one by one, he therefore res'hes
thus to do it by wholesale; a remedy wh'ch >• ne
would think as bad as the disease. [3.] He h ;S
nothing to do this with but a potsherd, no surgcu's
instrument proper for the purpose, but tlu.t which
would rather rake into his wounds, and add to his
pain, than give him any ease. Pti^ple that are sick
and sore, have need to be under the discipline and
direction of others, for they are often but b;-.d
managers of themselves.

(2.) Instead of reposing himself in a soft and
warm bed, he sat down among the ashes. Probably
he had a bed left him; (for, though his fields were
stripped, we do not find that his house was burnt or
plundered;) but he chose to sit in the ashes, either
because he was weary of his bed, or because he
would put himself into the place and posture of a
penitent, who, in token of his self-abhorrence, lay
in dust and ashes, ch. xlii. 6. Isa. Iviii. 5. Jon. iii. 6.
Thus did he humble himself under the mighty hand
of God, and bring his mind to the meanness and
poverty of his condition. He complains, {ch. \ii. 5.)
that his flesh was clothed with worms, and c/orfs ' /'
dust; and therefore dust to dust, ashes to ashes. If
God lay him among the ashes, there he will con-
tentedly sit down; a low spirit becomes low circum-
stances, and will help to reconcile us t" them. The
Septuagint reads it, He sat down upon a dunghill
without the city; (which is commonly said, in men-
tioning this story;) but the original says no mri-e
than that he sat iyi the midst of the ashes, which he
might do in his own house.

II. He urges him, by the persuasions of his own
wife, to curse God, v. 9. The Jews (who covet
much to be wise above what is written) say that
Job's wife was Dinah, Jacob's daughter: so the
Chaldee paraphrase. It is not likely that she was;
but, whoever it was, she was to him like Michal
to David, a scoffer at his piety. She was spared to
him, when the rest of his comforts were taken
away, for this piu'pose, to be a troubler and tempter
to him. If Satan leaves any thing that he has per-
mission to take away, it is with a design of mischief.
It is policy to send his temptations by the hand of
those tha*. are dear to us, as he tempted Adam by
Eve, and Christ by Peter. We must therefore
carefully watch, that we be not drawn to say or do
a wrong thing by the influence, interest, or en-
treaty, of any, no' n< t those for whose (;pini(^n and
favour we have ever so great a \alue. Observe
how strong this temptation was,

I. She banters Job for his constancy in his reli-
gion; "Dost thou still retain thine integritij? Art
thou so verv obstinate in thy religion, that nothing
will cure thee of it? So tame and shee]Msh, as thus
to truckle to a God, who is so far from rewarding
thy services with marks of his favour, that he
seems to take a pleasure in making thee miserable,
strips thee, and scourges thee, without any provo-
cation given? Is this a God to be still loved, and
blessed, and served?"

Dost thou not see that thy drvolion's vain?

What have thy pravei^ procur'd, but woe and paii,''

Hast thou not yet liiine inl'rest undeisuuid''

Perversely righteous, and absurdly jot d"*

JOB, II

21

Those painful soros, and all tliy losses, show
Hiiw Heaven n -sards ihi; foolish saiuls below.
Iiicuirigibly pious ! Can'! thy God
Reform lliy siupiil virtue with his rod?

Sir R. Blackmore.

Thus Satan still endeavours to draw men from
God, as he did our first pai'cnts, by suggesting hard
thoughts of him, as one that envies the happiness,
and delights in the misery, of his creatures, than
which nothing is more false. Another artifice he
uses, ;s, to drive men from their religion, by load-
ing tliem witli scoffs and reproaches i^M their ad-
herence to it: we have reason to expect it, but we
arc fools if we heed it: our Master himself has un-
dergone it, we sliall be abundantly recompensed for
It, and with much more reason may we revnt it
upon the scoffers, " Are you such fools as still to
retain your impiety, when you might diess God,
and live?"

2. She urges him to renounce his religion, to
blaspheme (iod, set him at defiance, and dare him
to do his worst; " Curse God, and die; live no
longer in dependence upon Ciod, wait not for relief
from him, ijut be tiiine own deliverer, by being
thine own executioner, end thy troubles by ending
tliy life, better die once than be always dying thus;
th'iu mayest now despair of having any help from
thy God, even curse him, and hang thyself."
These are two of the blackest and most horrid of all
S itan's temptatijns, and yet such as good men ha\ e
sometimes been violently assaulted with: nothing is
more contrary to natural conscience than blas-
plieming God, nor to natural sense than self-mur-
der; therefv)re the suggestion of either of these may
well be suspected to come immediately from Satan.
Loi-d, lead us not into temptation, not into such,
not into any, temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one.

III. He bravely resists and overcomes the temp-
tation, V. 10. He soon gave her an answer, (for
Satan spared him the use of his tongue, in hopes
he would curse God with it,) which showed his
constant .resolution to cleave to God, to keep his
good thoughts of him, and not to let go his inte-
grity.

See, 1. How he resented the temptations; he
was indignant at having such a thing mentioned to
him; "What! Curse God? I abhor the thought of
it; get thee behind me, Satan." In other cases.
Job reasoned with his wife with a great deal of
mildness, even when she was unkind to him; (ch.
xix. 17.) / entreated her for the children's sake of
my own body. But when she persuaded him to
curse God, he was much displeased; Thou sp.eakest
as one of the foolish women sfieaketh. He does not
call her a fool, and an atheist, nor does he break
out into any indecent expressions of his displeasure,
as those who are sick and sore are apt to do, and
think they may be excused; but he shows her the
rvW of what she said, that she spake the language
<if the infidels ;md idolaters, who, when they are
hard hi bestead, fret themselves, and curse their king
and their God, Isa. viii. 21. We have reason to
suppose, that, in such a pious household as Job had,
his wife was one that had been well-affected to re-
ligion, but that now, when all their estate and com-
fort were gone, she could not bear the loss with
that temper of mind that Job had; but that she
should go about to infect his mind with her wretch-
ed distemper, was a great provocation to him, and
he could not forbear thus showing his resentment.
Note, (1.) Those are angry and sin not, who are
angrr only at sin, and take a temptation as the
greatest affront; who cannot bear them that are
evil, Rev. ii. 2. When Peter was a Satan to Christ,
he told him plainly. Thou art an offence to me. (2. )
If those whom we think wise and good, at any time
speak that which is foolish and bad, we O'lght tore-

prove them faithfully for it, and show them the e\ ;i
of what they suy, that we suffer not sin upon them.
(3.) Temptations to curse God ought to be rejected
with the greatest abhonence, and not so much as to
be parleyed with: whoe\ er persuades us to tliat,
must be looked upon as our enemy, to whom if we
yield it is at our peril. Job did not ciirseGnd, and then
think to come off with Adam's excuse. The woman
whom thou gavest to be with me, she persuaded vie
to it, (Gen. iii. 12. ) which had in it a tacit reflection
on God, his ordinance, and providence; no, if thou
scornest, if thou cursest, thou alone shait bear it.

2. How he reasoned against the temptation; Shall
•w receive good at the hand of God, and shall we
noi, receive evil also? Those whom we reprove, we
must endeai^our to con\ ince; and it is no hard mat-
ter to give a reason why we should still hold fust
our integrity, evei. when we are stripped of every
thing else. He considers that though good and
evil are contraries, yet they do not come from con-
trary causes, but both from the hand of God; (Isa.
xlv. 7. Lam. iii. 38.) and therefore t'lat in both we
must have our eye up unto him, with cbankfulness
for the good he sends, and without fretfulnes* at the
evil. Observe the force of his argument,

(1.) What he argiies /or; not only the bearing,
but the receiving, of evil; Shall we not receive
evil? that is, [1.] " Shall we not expect to receive
it.'' If God give us so many good things, shall we be
surprised, or think it strange, if he sometimes
afflict us, when he has told us that prosperity
and adversity are set the one over-against the
other.?" 1 Pet. iv. 12. [2.] " Shall we not set our-
selves to receive it aright.'" The woi-d signifies to
receive as a gift, and denotes a pious affection and
disposition of soul under our afflictions, neither
despising them nor fainting under tliem, accounting
them gifts; (Phil. i. 29.) accepting them as punish-
ments of our iniquity; (Lev. xxvi. 41.) acquiescing
in the will of God in them; ("Let him do with me
as seemeth him good;") and accommodating our-
selves to them, as those that know how to want as
well as how to abound, Phil. iv. 12. When the
heart is humbled, and weaned, by humbling wean-
ing providences, then we receive correction, (Zech.
iii. 2. ) and take up our cross.

(2.) What he argues/ro7«; " Shall we receive so
much good as has come' to us from the hand of God,
during all those years of peace and prosperity that
we have lived; and shall we not now receive evil,
when God thinks fit to lay it on us.'" Note, The
consideration of the mercies we receive from God,
both past and present, should make us receive our
afflictions with a suitable disposition of spirit. If
we receive our share of the conmion good in the
seven years of plenty, shall we not receive or.r
share of the common evil in the years of famine.'
Qui sensit commodum, sentire debet et onus — He
who feels the privilege, should prepare for the pri-
vation. If we have so much that pleases us, why
should we not be content with that which pleases
God.' If we receive so many comforts, shall we not
receive some afflictions, which will serve as fi.ilsto
our comforts, to make them the more valuable; (we
are taught the worth of mercies, by being made to
want them sometimes;) and as allays to our com-
forts, to make them the less dangerous, to keep
the balance e\ en, and to prevent our being liped up
above measure? 2 Cor. xii. 7. If we receive so
much good for the body, shall we not receive some
good for the soul; that is, some afflictions, bv
which we partake of God's holiness; (Heb. xii.
10.) srimething which, by saddening the coun-
tenance, makes the heart better.' Let murmuring,
therefore, as well as boasting, be for ever ex-
cluded.
IV. Thus, in a good measui-e, Job still held fast

'22

JOB, II.

his integrity; and Satan's design against him was
ilefeated. In all this did not Job sm with his lifis;
he not only said this well, but all he said, at this
tinie, was under the go\ernnient of religion and
right reason: in the midst of all these grievances,
he did not speak a word amiss; and we have no
reason to think, but that he also preserved a good
temper of mind, so that though there might be
some stirrings and risings of corruption in his heart,
yet grace got the upper hand, and he took care that
t:ie root of bitterness might not spring up to trouble
him, Heb. xii. 15. The abundance of his heart
was for God, produced good things, and suppressed
the evil that was there, which was out-voted by the
better side. If he did think any evil, yet he laid
his hand ufion his mouth, (Prov. xxx. "32.) stifled
the evil thouglit, and let it go no further; by which
it appeared, not only that he had true grace, bat
that It was strong, and victorious; in short, that he
had not forfeited the cliai-acter oi ii/irrfcct and u/i-
right mail; for so he appears to be, who, in tiie
midst of sucl\ temptation, offends not in word,
Jam. iii. 2. Ps. x\ii. 3.

1 1 . Now vvlieu Job's three friends lieard
of all this evil that was come upon him,
they came every one from his own place ;
Elipliaz the Temanite, and Biidad the Shu-
hite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they
had made an appointment together to come
to mourn with him, and to comfort him.
12. And when they lifted up their eyes
afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up
their voice and wept; and they rent every
one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon
their heads toward heaven. 13. So they
sat down with him upon the ground seven
days and seven nights, and none spake a
word unto him : for they saw that his grief
was very great.

We have here an account of the kind visit which
Job's three friends made him in his affliction. The
news of his extraordinary troubles spread into all
parts; he being an eminent man, both for greatness
and goodness, and the circumstances of his troubles
being very uncommon. Some, who were his ene-
mies, triumphed in his calamities; (c/i. xvi. 10. —
xix. 18. — xxx, 1, tfc.) perhaps they made ballads
on him: but his friends concerned themselves for
him, and endeavoured to comfort him; a friend
loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adver-
sity. Three of them are here named, {v. 11.)
Eliphaz, Biidad, and Zophar. We shall meet with
a fourth after, who, it should seem, was present at
the whole conference, namely, Eliliu; whether he
came as a friend of Job, or only as an auditor, does
not appear: these three are said to be hhfrierids,
his intimate acquaintances, as David and Solomon
had each of them one in their court, that was called
the king's friend. These three were eminently
wise and good men, as appears by their discourses;
they were old men, very old, they liad a great re-
putation for knowledge, and much deference was
paid to their judgment, ch. xxxii. 6. It is probable
that they were men of figure in their country —
princes, or heads of houses. Now observ e,

I. That Job, in his prosperity, had contracted a
friendship with them: if they were his equals, yet
he had not that jealousy of them; if his inferiors,
yet he had not that disdain of them, which was any
hinderance to an intimate converse and correspon-

dence with them. To have such friends, added
more to his happiness in the day of his prospent} ,
than all the heads of cattle he was master of.
Much of the comfort of this life lies in acquaint-
ance and friendship witli those that are prudent and
virtuous; and he that lias a few such friends, ought
to value them highly. Job's three friends are sup
posed to be all of them of the posterity of Aijra
ham, which, for some descents, c en in the families
that were shut out from the covenant of peculiarity,
retained some good fruits of that pious education
which the father of the faithful gave to thi se under
his charge. Eliphaz descended from Tem m, the
grandson of Esau; (Gen. xxx\i. 11.) Biidad i^it is
probable) from Shuah, Abraham's son by Keturah,
Gen. XXV. 2. Zophar is thought by some to be the
same wit.i Zepho, a descendant from Esau, Gen.
xxx\i. 11. The preserving of so much wisdom and
piety among those that were sti'angers to the cove-
nantsof promise, was a happy presage' of God's grace
to the Gentiles, when the partition wall should, in the
latter days, be taken down. Esau was rejected; yet
many that came from him inherited some of the
best blessuigs.

II. That they continued their friendship with
Job in his adversity, when most of his friends liad
forsaken him, ch. xix. 14. Two ways they showed
their friendship,

1. By the kind visit they made him in his afflic-
tion, to mourn with him, and to comfort him, v. 11.
Probably, they had been wont to \ isit him in his
prosperity, not to hunt or hawk with him, not to
dance or play at cards with him, but to entertain
and edify themselves with his learned and pious
converse; and now, that he was in adversity, they
came to share with him in his griefs, as formerly
they had come to share with him in liis comforts.
These were wise men, whose heart was i" ''"-
house of mourning, Eccl. vii. 4. Visiting the afflict
ed, sick or sore, fatherless or childless, in their sor-
row, is made abranch oi pure religion and undtjikdi
(Jam. i. 27.) and, if done from a good principle,
will be abundantly recompensed shortly, Matth.
XXV. 36. By visiting the sons and daughters of afflic-
tion, we may contribute to the improvement, (].)
Of our own graces; for many a good lesson is t(j be
learned from the trouliles of others; we may look
upon them, and recei\e instruction, and be made
wise and serious. (2. ) Of their comforts; by putting
a respect upon them, we encourage them, and some-
good word may be spoken to them, which may help
to make them easy. Jc^b's friends came, not to
satisfy their curiosity with an account of his troubles,
and the strangeness of the circumstances of them;
much less, as David's false friends, to make invi-
dious remarks upon him, (Ps. xli. 6.. 8.) but to
mourn with him, to mingle their tears with his,
and so to comfort him. It is much more pleasant
to visit those in affliction, to whom comfort belongs,
than those to whom we must first speak con\ iction.

Concerning these visitants, observe, [1.] That
they were not sent for, but came of their own ac-
cord; {ch. vi. 22.) whence Mr. Caryl observes, that
it is good manriei's to be an unbidden guest at the
house of mourning, and, in comforting our friends,
to prevent their invitations. [2.] That thev made
an appointment to come. Note, Good people should
make appointments among tliemselves for doing
good, so exciting and obliging one another to it, and
assisting and encouraging one another in it. For
the carrying on of any pi< us design, let hand join in
hand. [3.] That they came with a design (and
we have reason to think it was a sincere design) to
comfort him, and yet pnned miserable comforters,
through their unskilful management of his case.
Many that aim well, by mistake, come shoi t of
their aim.

JOB, III.

23

2. By their tender sympathy with him and con-
cern fi.r hini in his affliction; when they saw him
at sonic distance, he was so disfigured and deformed
witli h,s sores, that they kncvj him not, f. 12. Hs
fa.c w.ia fo'.'l iDit/t ivfefiing, {c/i. xvi. 16.) like Je-
ms ilem's N.iza ites, that had been ruddy as the
rubitfi, but weie now blacker than a coal. Lam. iv.
7, 8. Wliat a change will a sore disease, or, with-
out that, oppi'essing care and grief, make in the
countenance, in a little time! Is this J^aomi? Ruth
i. 19. So, Is this Joby How art thou fallen! How
IS thy glory stained and sullied, and all thine honour
laid in the dust! God fit us for such changes!

Observing him thus miserably altered, they did
not leave him, in a fright or loathing, but expressed
so much the more tenderness toward him.

(1.) Coming to mourn with him, they vented their
undissernbled grief in all the then usual expressions
of that passion; they wept aloud; the sight of them,
(as is usual,) revived Job's grief, and set him a-weep-
ing afresh, which fetched floods of tears from their
eyes. They rent their clothes, and sprinkled dust
upon their heads, as men that would strip them-
selves, and abase themselves, with their friend that
was stripped and abased.

(2.) Coming to comfort him, they sat down with
nim upon the ground, for so he received visits; and
they, not in compliment to him, but in true com-
passion, put themselves into the same humble and
uneasy place and posture. They had many a time,
it is likely, sitten with him on his couches, and at
his table, in his prosperity, and were therefore
willing to share with him in his grief and po\erty,
because they had shared with him in his joy and
plenty. It was not a modish short visit that they
made him, just to look upon him and be gone; but,
as those that could have no enjoyment of themselves,
if they had returned to their place, while their
friend was in so much misery, they resolved to stay
with him till they saw him mend or end, and there-
fore took lodgings near him, though he was not now
able to entertain them as he had done, and they
must therefore bear their own charges. Every day,
for seven days together, at the hours in which he
admitted company, they came and sat with him, as
liis companions in tribulation, and exceptions from
that rule, JVullus ad admissas ibit amicus opes — They
•who have lost their wealth, are not to exfiect the
visits of their friends.

They sat with him, but none spake a word to
him, only they all attended to the particular naiTa-
tives he gave of his troubles. They were silent, as
men astonished and amazed; Cures leves loquuntur,
ingentes stufient — Our lighter griefs have a voice;
those which are more oppressive, are mute; or, ac-
cording to Sir R. Blackmore,

So lung a lime they held their peace, to show
A reverence due lo suih prodigious woe.

They spake not a word to him, whatever they
said one to another, by way of instruction, for the
improvement of the present providence. They
said nothing to that purport to which afterward
they said much — nothing to grieve him; {ch. iv. 2.)
because they saw his grief was very great already,
and they were loath at first to add affliction to the
afflicted. There is a time to keep silence, when
either the wicked is before us, and by speaking we
niay harden them, (Ps. xxxix. 1. ) or when by speak-
ing we may offend the generation of God's children,
Ps. Ixxiii. 15. Their not entering upon the follow-
ing solemn discourses till the seventh day, may per-
haps intimate that it was the sabbath-day, which,
doubtless, was obser\ ed in the patriarchal age, and
to that day they adjourned the intended conference,
because, probably, then company resorted, as usual,
to Job's house, to join with him in his devotions,
who might be edified by the discourse. Or rather,

by their silence so long, they would intimate, thi.t
what they afterwards said was well considered and
digested, and the result of many thoughts. 'J'/,e
heart of the wise studies to answer. We should
Ih nk twice before we speak once, especiallv in
such a case as this, think long, and we sliall be' the
belter able to speak short and to the purpose.

CHAP. 111.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job, says the apostle, Jav..
V. 11. So »ve have, and of his inipatience too. We
wondered that a man should be so patient as he was;
(ch. i. and ii. ) but we wondered also, that a good muii
should be so impatient as he is here in this chapter,
where we find him cursing his day, and, in passion, 1.
Complaining that he was born, v. 1 . . 10. II. Complain-
iii"^ that he did not die as soon as he was born, v. 1 1 . . 1 9.
III. Complaining that his life was now continued when
he was in misery, v. 20. .26. In this, it must be owned
that Job sinned with his lips, and it is written, not for
our imitation, but our admonition, that he who thinks
he stands, may take heed lest he fall.

FTER this opened Job his mouth,
and cursed his day. 2. And Job
spake, and said, 3. Let the day perish
wherein 1 was born, and the nigiit m tvhich
it was said. There is a man child conceived.
4. Let that day be darkness ; let not God
regard it from above, neither let the light
shine upon it. 5. Let darkness and the
shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell
upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify
it. 6. As for that night, let darkness seize
upon it ; let it not be joined unto the days
of the year; let it not come into the numbt r
of the months. 7. Lo, let that night be
solitary; let no joyful voice come thereiis.
8. Let them curse it that curse the day, wh.o
are ready to laise up their mourning. 9.
Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dai k ;
let it look for light, but have none; neither
let it see the daVvning of the day: 10. Be-
cause it shut not up the doors of my mother's
womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

Long was Job's heart hot within him; while he
was musing, the fire burned, and the more for be-
ing stifled and suppressed; at length, he spake with
his tongue, but not such a good word as David spake
after a long pause. Lord, make me to know my end,'
Ps. xxxix. 3, 4. Seven days the prophet Ezekiel
sat down astonished with the captives, and then
(probably on the sabbath-day) the word of the Lord
came to him, Ezek. iii. 15, 16. So long job and his
friends sat thinking, but said nothing; they wete
afraid of speaking what they thought, lest thev
should grieve him, and he durst not give vent to his
thoughts, lest he .«hould ofFend them. They came
to comfort him, but, finding his afflictions very ex-
traordinary, they began to think comfort did n; t
belong to him, suspecting him to be a hvpccrite,
and therefore they said nothing. But loset s think
they may have leave to speak, and tlierefore Jo!)
gives vent first to his thoughts. Unless they had
been better, it had been well if he had kept them
to himself.

In short, he cursed his day, the day of his birth,
wished he had never been born, could not think ov
speak of his own birth without regret and vexation.
Whereas men usually observe the annual return of
their birth-day with rejoicing, he looked upon it as

24

JOB, III.

llxe unhappiest day of the year, because the unhap-
piest of his hfe, being the inlet into all his woe.
Now,

I. This was bad enough. The extremity of his
trouble and the discomposure of liis spirits may ex-
cuse it in part, but he can by no means be justilied
in it. Now lie has forgotten the good he was born
to, the lean kine have eaten up the fat ones, and he
is filled with thoughts of the evil only, and wishes
he had never been born. The prophet Jeremiah
himself expressed his resentment of his calamities,
in language not much unlike this, I foe is me, rny
mother, t/iat thou hunt borne me! (Jer. xv. 10.)
Cursed be the day wherein. I was born, Jer. xx. 14,
&c. We may suppose that Job, in his prosperity,
had many a time blessed God for the day of his
birth, and reckoned it a happy day; yet now he
brands it with all possible marks of infamy. When
we consider the iniquity in which we were conceiv-
ed and born, we have reason enciugh to reflect with
sorrow and shame upon the day of our birth, and to
say that the day of our death, by which we are
freed from sin, (Rom. vi. 7.) is far better, Eccl.
vii. 1. But to curse the day of our birth, because
then we entered upon the calamitous scene of life,
is to quaiTel with the God of nature, to despise the
dignity of our being, and to indulge a passion which
our own calm and sober thoughts will make us
ashamed of. Certainly there is no condition of life
a man can be in in this world, but he may, in it,
(if it be not his own fault,) so honour God, and
workiout his own salvation, and make sure a happi-
ness for himself in a better world, that he will have
no reason at all to wish he had never been born,
but a great deal of reason to say that he had his be-
ing to good purpose. Yet 't iimst be owned, if
there were not another life after this, and divine
consolations to support us in the prospects of it, so
many are«the sorrows and troubles of this, that we
might sometimes be tempted to say that we were
made in vain, (Ps. Ixxxix. 47.) and to wish we had
ne\er been. There are those in hell, who, with
good reason, wish they had never been born, as
Judas, Matth. xxvi. 24. But, on this side hell,
there can ^e no reason for so vain and ungrateful a
wish. It was Job's folly and weakness to curse his
day; we must say of it. This was his infirmity; but
good men have sometimes failed in the exercise of
those graces which they have been most eminent
for, that we may understand, that, when they are
said to be fierftct, it is meant that they weie up-
right, not that they were sinless. Lastly, Let us
observe it, to the honour of the spiritual life above
the natural, that, though many have cursed the day
of their first birth, never any cursed the day of their
new birth, nor wished they ne\ er had had grace,
and the spirit of grace given them; those are the
most excellent gifts, above life and being itself, and
whicli will never be a burthen.

II. Yet it was not so bad as Satan promised him-
self: Job cursed his day, but he did not curse his
CJod; was weary of his life, and would gladly have
parted with that, but not weary of his religion; he
resolutely cleaves to that, and will ne\er let it go.
The disjnite between God and Satan concerning
Job, was not whether Job had his infirmities, and
whether he was suljject to like passions as we are;
(that was granted;) but whetlier he was a hypo-
crite, and secretly hated (iod, and, if he were pro-
voked, would show it: upon trial, it proved that he
was no such man. Nay, all this may consist with
his being a pattern of patience; for though he did
thus speak unad\ isedly with his lips, yet, ijoth be-
fore and after, he expressed great submission and
resignation to tlic holy will of (iod, and repented of
his impatience; he condemned himself tor it, and
therefore God did not condemn him; nor must we,

but watch the more carefully over ourselves, lest
we sin after the similitude of this transgression.

The particular expressions which Jub used, in
cursing his day, are full of poetical fancy, flame, and
rapture; and cieate as much difficulty to che ci-itics
as the thing itself does to the divine's: we need not.
be particular in our observations upon tliem.

When he would express his passionate wish that
he had never been, he falls foul upon the day; and,

1. He wished that earth might forget it; Let it
perish, v. 3. Let it not be joined to the days of the
year, v. 6. "Let it be not only not inserted in the
calendar in red letters, as the day < f tlie king's na-
tivity useih to be," (and Job was a king, ch. xxix.
ult.) "but let it be rased and blotted out, and bu-
ried in oblivion. Let not the world know that ever
such a man as I was bom into it, and lived in it,
who am made such a spectacle of misery. "

2. That Hea\en might frown ufion it; Let not
God regard it from above, v. 4. "E. ery thing is
indeed as it is with God; that day is honourable on
which he puts honour, and which he distinguishes
and crowns with his favour and blessing, as he did
the seventh day of the week, but let my birth-day
never be so honoured, let it be nigro carbone notan-
dus — marked as with a black coal, for an evil day,
by him that determines the times before appointed.
1 he Father and Fountain of light appouited the
greater light to rule the day, and lesser lights to
rule the niglit; but let that want the benefit of both. "
(1. ) Let that day be darkness; {v. 4.) and if the
light of the day be darkness, hoiv great is that
darkness! It is terrible, because then we look for
light. Let the gloominess of the day represent
Job's condition, whose sun went down at noon. (2.)
As for that night too, let it want the benefit rf morn
and stars, and let darkness seize upon it, thick dark-
ness, darkness that may be felt, which will not be-
friend the repose of the night by its silence, but
rather disturb it with its terroi s.

3. That all joy might forsake it; "Let it be a
melancholy night, solitary, and not a mei ry night
of music or dancing; let no joyful voice c^me there-
in;" {y. 7.) "let it be a long night, and not see the
eye-lids of the morning," (v. 9.) "which bring joy
with them."

4. That all curses m\%hX. follow it; [xk 8.) "Let
none ever desire to see it, or bid it welcome when
it comes, but, on the contrary, let them curse it that
curse the day. Whatever day any are tempted to
curse, let them at the same time besti.w rue ciirse
upon my birth-day; particularly those th;it make it
their trade to raise up mourning a' funenls wrh
their ditties of lamentation. Let them that curse
the day of the death of oth.ers, in the same breath
curse tlie day of my birth." Or, those who are so
fierce and daring as to be ready to raise u]j the
Leviathan, for that is the word here; who, hcivig
about to strike the whale or crocodile, curse it \<. ith
the bitterest curse they can invent, hoping by thi^se
incantations to weaken it, and so to make them-
selves masters of it. Probably some such custom
might there be used, to which cur divine poet a'-
ludes. Let it be as odious as the day wherein men
bewail the greatest misfortune, or the time ivhin-
in they see the most dreadful apparitioji: so Bishf])
Patrick, I supprse, taking the Levi;:than liere to
signify the Devil, as others do, who uiulcrsta; d it
of the curses used by conjurers and magicians in
raising the Devil, or when they have raised a devil
that they cannot lay.

But what is the ground of Job's quanel with the
day and night of his birth? It is because it shut not
up the doors of his mother^s womb, v. 10. See the
folly and madness of a passionate discontent, and
how absurdly and '^vtr^.vKgantly it talks, when the
reins are laid on the neck of it. Is this Job, who

JOB, III.

25

was so much admired for his wisdom, that unto him
men gave ear, and kefil silence at his counsel, and
after his vjords they spuke not ugaiii? ch. xxix. 21,
22. Surely his wisdom failed liim, ^1.) When he
took so much pains to express his desire that he
had ne\ er been born, whicii, at the best, was a vain
wisii, for it is impossible to make that which has
been, not to have been. (2.) When he was so li-
Dei'al of his curses upon a day and a night, that could
not be liurt, or made ever the worse for his curses.
(3.) When he wished a thing so very barbarous to
his own iooiher, as that she might not have brouglu
him forth, when her full time was come; wliich
must ine\itdbly have been her death, and a mise-
rable death. (4.) When he despised the goodness
of God to him, (in giving him a being, sucli a being,
so noble and excellent a life, such a life, so far
abovC that of any other creature in this lower
world,) and undervalued tiie gift, as not worth the
acceptance, only because tratmt cum onere — it was
clogged with a firoviso of trouble, which now, at
length, came upon him, after many years' enjoy-
ment of its pleasures. What a foolish thing it wa*
to wish that his eyes had never seen the light, that
so they might not have seen sorrow, which yet he
might hope to see through, and beyond which he
might see joy! Did Job believe and hope that he
should m his flesh see God at the latter day; {ch.
xix. 26.) and yet would he wish he never had had
a being capable of such a bliss, only because, for the
present, he had sorrow in the flesh? God, by his
grace, arm us against this foolish and hurtful lust
of impatience!

1 1. Why died I not from the womb? lohi/
did I not give up the ghost when I came out
of the belly ? 12. Why did the knees pre-
vent me ? or why the breasts that I should
suck ? 1 3. For now should I have lain still
and been quiet, I should have slept : then
had I been at rest, 14. With kings and
counsellors of the earth, which built desolate
places for themselves; 15. Or with princes
that had gold, who filled their houses with
silver: 16. Or as a hidden untimely birth
1 had not been ; as infants which never saw
light. 17. There the wicked cea.se from
troubling ; and there the weary be at rest.
18. There the prisoners rest together; they
hear not the voice of the oppressor. 19.
The small and great are there; and the
servant is free from his master.

Job, perhaps reflecting upon himself for his folly
in wishing he had never been born, follows it, and
thinks to mend it, with another, little better, that
he had died as soon as he was born, which he en-
larges upon in these verses. When our Saviour
would set forth a very calamitous state of things, he
seems to allow such a saying as this. Blessed are
the barren, and the wombs that Tiever bare, and the
fiafis which never gave suck; (Luke xxiii. 29.) but
blessing the liarren womb is one thing, and cursing
the fruitful womb is another! It is good to make the
best of afflictions, but it is not good to make the
worst of mercies. Our rule is, Bless, a7id curse not.

Life is often put for all good, and death for all evil;
yet Job here very absurdly complains of life and its
supports, as a curse and plague to him, and covets
death and the grave, as the greatest and most de-
sirable bliss. Surely Satan was deceived in Job,
when he applied that maxim to him, jill that a man

Vol. III.— D

hath will he give for his life; for never any man
valued life at a lower rate than he did.

I. He ungratetully quarrels with life, and is an-
gry tliut It was not taken from him as soon as 't was
given him; {v. 11, 12.) Why died not I from the
womb? See here, 1. What a weak and helpless
creature man is when he comes into the woild, and
how slender the thread of Lfe is, when it is first
drawn. We are ready to die fion) tlie womb, and
to breathe our last, as soon as we begin to breathe
at all. We can dc) nothing for ourseh es, as other
creatures can, but should drop into the grave, if
the knees did not prevent us; and the lamp of life,
when first lighted, would go out of itself, if the
breasts given us, that we should suck, did not supply
it with fresh oil. 2, What a merciful and tender
care Divine Providence took of us, at our entrance
into the world. It was owing to th's, that we died
not from the womb, and did not give u/i the ghost
when we came out of the belly. Why were we not
cut off" as soon as we were born? Not because we
did not deserve it; justly might such weeds ha\e
been plucked u,) as soon as they appeared, justly
might such cockatrices ha\ e been crushed in the
egg: not because we did, or could, take any care of
ourselves and our own safety; no creature comes
into the world so shiftless as man. It was not our
might, or the power of our hand, that preser\ ed us
these beings; but God's power and pro\ idence up-
held our frail lives, and his pity and patience spared
our forfeited lives. It was owing to this that the
knees prevented us. Natural affection is put into
parents' hearts by the hand of the God of nature:
and lience it was, that the blessings of the breast
attended those of the womb. 3. What a great deal
of vanity and vexation of spirit attends human life.
If we had not a God to serve in this world, and bet-
ter things to hope for in another world, considering
the faculties we are endued whh, and the ti-oubles
we are surrounded with, we should be st)ongly
tenipted to wish that we had died from the womb,
which had prevented a great deal both of sin and
misery.

He that is born ro-day, and dies to-morrow,
Loses some hours of joy, but months of sorrow.

4. The evil of impatience, fretfulness, and discon-
tent; when they thus prevail, they aie unreason-
able and absurd, impious and ungrateful; they are
a slighting and under\^aluing of God's fa\ our. 'How
much soever life is imbittered, we must say, "It
was of the Lord's mercies that we died not from
the womb, that we were not consumed." Hatred
of life is a contradiction to the common sense and
sentiments of mank'nd, and our own at anothei
time. Let discontented people declaim ever so much
against life, they will he loath to part with it when it
comes to the point. When the old man in the fable,
being tired with his burthen, threw it drwn with
discontent, and called for death, and death came to
him, and asked him what he would have with him,
he then answered, "Nothing, but help me up with
my burthen."

IL He p issionately applauds death and the grave,
and seems quite in "love with them. To desire to
die, that we may be with Christ, that we may be free
from sin, and that we may be clothed upon with
our house which is fro7n heaven, is the effect and
evidence of grace; but to desire to die, only that we
may be quiet in the grave, and dcliveied "from the
troubles of this life, sa\ ours of corruption. Job's
considerations here may be of good use to reconcile
us to death when it comes, and to make us easy
under the arrest of it; but they ought not to be
made use of as a pretence to quarrel with life while
it is continued, or to make us uneasy under the bur-
thens of it. It is our wisdom and duty to make the

26

JOB, III.

best of that which is, be it living or dying, and so
t(i live to the Lord, and die to the Lord, and to be
liis in both, Rom. xiv. 8.

Job here frets himself with thinking, that, if he
had but died as soon as he was born, and been ear-
ned from the womb to the grave,

1. His condition would have been as good as that
of the best. I should have been (says he, v. 14. )
with kings and counsellors of the earth, whose
pomp, power, and policy, cannot set them out of
the reacli of death, nor secure them from the grave,
\\)v distinguish their's from common dust in the
grave. Even princes, who had gold in abundance,
I 'Mild not, with it, bribe death to overlook them
ulien he came with commission; and though tliey
fi'.lecl their houses with silver, yet they were forced
to leave it all behind them, no more to return to it.
Some, by the desolate places which the kings and
counsellors are here said to build for themselves,
understand the sepulchres or monuments they pre-
])ired for themselves in their life-time; as Shebna
(Is '. xxii. 16.) hewed him out a sefiulchre; and by
the gold which the princes had, and the sil\ er with
which they filled their houses, they understand the
treasures which, they say, it was usual to deposit in
the graves of great men. Such arts have been used
to preserve their dignity, if possible, on the other
side death, and to keep themselves from lying
even with those of inferior rank; but it will not do;
death is, and will be, an irresistible leveller; Mors
scr/itra li^ojiibus dequat — Death mingles sce/itres
with sfiades. Rich and fioor meet together in the
grave; and there, 2. hidden untimely birth, {y. 16.)
a child that either never saw light, or but just open-
ed its eyes, and peeped into the world, and, not
liking it, closed them again, and hastened out of it,
lies -.s soft and easy, lies as high and safe, as kings,
and counsellors, and princes that had gold; "And
therefore," says Job, " would I had lain there in the
dust, rather than live to lie here in the ashes!"

2. His condition would have been much better
thai n rw it was, v. 13. " Then should I have lain
still and been quiet, which now I cannot do, I can-
not be, but am still tossing and unquiet; then I
should have slept, whereas now sleep departeth
from mine eyes; then had I been at rest, whereas
now I am restless." Now that life and immortality
are brought to a much clearer light by the gospel
than befoi-e they were placed in, good Christians can
give a better account than this of the gain of death;
" Tlien should I have been present with the Lord,
then should I have seen his glory face to face, and
no longer through a glass darkly;" but all that poor
Job dreamed of, was rest and quietness in the grave,
cut of the fear of evil tidings, and out of the feeling
of sore boils. I'hen should I have been quiet; and
hnd he kept his temper, his even easy temper still,
which he was in, in the two foregoing chapters, en-
tirely resigned to the holy will of God, and acqui-
escing in it, he might have been quiet now ; his soul,,
at least, might have dwelt at ease, even when his
bodv lay in pain, Ps. xxv. 13.

Observe how finely he describes the repose of the
gr;(ve; which (provided the soul also l)e at rest in
Gnfl) may much assist our triumph over it.

(1.) Those that now are troubled, will there be
'out of the reach of trouble; {y. 17. ) There the wick-
ed erase from troubling: when persecutors die, they
can no longer persecute, their hatred and envy are
now perished. Herod had vexed the church, but
when he became a prey for worms, he ceased from
troiibling. When the persecuted die, they are out
of the danger of being any further troubled. Had
Job been at rest in his grave, he had had nodisturli-
ance from the Sabeans and Chaldeans, none of all
nis enemies had created him any trouble.

(2.) Th'^se tliat arc now toiled, will there see the

period of their toils; there th: weary are at rest
heaven is more than a rest to the souls of the saints,
but the grave is a rest to their bodies; their pilgri-
mage is a weary pilgrimage; sin and the world «
they are weary of; their services, sufferings, and
expectations, they are wearied with; but in the
grave they rest from all their labours, Rev. xi..
13. Isa. Ivii. 2. They are eusy there, i.nd make im)
complaints; there believers sleep in Jesus.

(3.) Those that were here enslaved, are there i;t
liberty: death is the prisoner's discharge, the reli f
of the oppressed, and the servant's nuitiumis.sif;n, i .
18. There the prisoners, though thty walk nit ;.t
large, yet they rest together, and arc net put to
work, to grind in that pris'n-house. They aieno
more insulted and tranii)led upon, menaced ai d
terrified, by their cruel task-m sters; 'hey hear 7:0t
the voice of the ojifiressor. They that were heie
doomed to perj^etual servitude, that cou!d call no-
thing their own, no not their own b' dies, are there
no longer under command or c ntr( 1; there tlie ser-
vant is free from his master; wlii^h is a gof d reason
why those that have power should use it mode-
rately, and those that are in subjection should bear
it patiently, yet a little while.

(4.) Those that were at a vast distance from all
others, there are upon a level, v. 19. The small
and great are there, there the same, there all one,
all alike free among the dead. The tedious pomp
and state, which attend the great, are at an end
there; all the inconveniences of a poor and low con-
dition are likewise over; death and the grave know
no difference.

LevelI'd by death, the conqueror and the slave,
The wise and foolish, cowards and the brave,
Lie mix'd and undistinguished in the grave

Sir R. Blackmore.

20. Wherefore is light given to him thai
is in misery, and Ufe unto the bitter m soul \

21. Which long for death, but licometh not ;
and dig for it more than for hid treasures ;

22. Wliich rejoice exceedingly, and are glad
when they can find the grave ? 23. Why is
light given to a man whose way is hid, and
whom God hath hedged in ? 24. For my
sighing Cometh before I eat, and my roar-
ings are poured out like the waters. 25. For
the thing which T greatly feared is come
upon me, and that which I was afraid of is
come unto me. 26. I was not in safet}-,
neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet
trouble came.

Job, finding it to no purpose to wish either that
he had not been born, or had died as soon as he was
born, here complains that his life was now con-
tinued, and not cut off. When men are set on quar-
relling, there is no end of it; the corrupt heart will
carry on the humour: having cursed the day of his
birth, here he courts the day of his death. The
beginning of this strife and impatience is as the let-
ting forth of water.

1. He thinks it hard, in general, that miserable
lives should be prolonged; (t. 20. . 22.) Wherefore
is light in life given to them that are bitter in soul?
Bitterness of soul, through sjiiritual grievances,
makes life itself bitter. JVhy doth he give light k
So it is in the original : he means God, yet does not
name him, though the Devil had said, "He will
curse thee to thy face;" but he tacitly reflects on the
Divine Providence as unjust and unkind, in conti-
nuing life, when the comforts of litV are removed.

JOB, IV.

27

Life is called light, because pleasant and service-
able for walking and working; it is candle-ligtit, the
longer it burns, the shorter, and the nearer to the
socket, it grows. This light is said to be gwen us;
for if it were not daily renewed to us by a fresh
gift, it would be lost. But Job reckons, that, to
th'ise who are in misery, it is iZ,f,ov aSajiov — gif( and
no gift, a gift that they had better be without,
wiiile the light only serves them to see their own
miser)" Ijy. Such is the vanity of human life, that
it sometimes becomes a vexation of spirit; and so
alterable is the property of death, that, though
d-eadful to nature, it may become even desirable to
nature itself. , He speaks of those here, (1.) Who
long for death, when they have out-lived their com-
forts and usefulness, are burthened with age and in-
firmities, with pain or sickness, poverty or disgrace,
ind yet it comes not; while, at the same time, it
comes to many who dread it, and would put it far
from them. The continuance and period of life
must be according to God's will, not according to
our's. It is not fit that we should be consulted how
long we would live, and when we would die; our
times are in a better hand than our own. (2.) Who
dig for it as for hid treasures; that is, would give
any thing for a fair dismission out of this world,
which supposes that theii the thought of men's lac-
ing their own executioners was not so much as en-
tertained or suggested, else those who longed for
it needed not take much pains for it, they might
soon come at it, (as Seneca tells them,) if they
pleased. (3. ) Who bid it welcome, and are glad
when they can find the grave, and see themselves
stepping into it. If the miseries of this life can
prevail, contrary to nature, to make death itself de-
sirable, shall not much more the hopes and pros-
pects of a better life, to which death is our passage,
make it so, and set us quite above the fear of it ?
It may be a sin to long for death, but I am sure it is
no sin to long for heaven.

2. He thinks himself, in particular, hardly dealt
with, that he might not be eased of his pam and
misery by death, when he could not get ease any
other way. To be thus impatient of life, for the
sake of the troubles we meet with, is not only un-
natural in itself, but ungrateful to the Giver of life,
and argues a sinful indulgence of our own passion,
and a sinful inconsideration of our future state. Let
it be our great and constant care to get ready for
another world, and then let us leave it to God to
order the circumstances of our removal thither as
he thinks fit; "Lord, when and how thou pleasest;"
and this with such an indifferency, that if he should
refer it to us, we would refer it to him again. Grace
teaches us, in the midst of life's greatest comforts,
to be willing to die, and, in the midst of its greatest
crosses, to be willing to live.

Job, to excuse himself in this earnest desire which
he had to die, pleads the little comfort and satis-
faction he had in life.

(1.) In his present afflicted state, troubles were
continually felt, and were likely to be so. He
thoue;ht he had cause enough to be weary of living,
for, [1.] He had no comfort of his life; My sighing
comes before I eat, x>. 24. The sorrows of life
prevented and anticipated the supports of life; nay,
they took away his appetite for his necessarv food.
His griefs returned as duly as his meals, and afflic-
tion was his daily bread. Nay, sra great was the
extremity of his pain and anguish, that he did not
only sigh, but roar, and his roarings were poured
out like the watei's in a full and constant stream.
Our Master was acquainted with grief, and we
must expect to be so too. [2.] He had no pros-
pect of iiettering his condition, his way was hid,
and God had hedged him in, v. 23. He saw no
way open of deliverance, nor knew he what course

to take; his way was hedged ufi with thorns, that
he could not find his path. See ch. xxiii. 8. Lim
iii. 7.

(2.) Even in his former prosperous, state troubles
were continually feared; so that theii he was ne\er
easy, v. 25, 26. He knew so much r f the vanity
of the world, and the troubles to which, rf course,
he was born, that he was not in safety, neither had
he rest then. That which made his grief now the
more grie\ ous, was, that he was not conscious to
himself of any great degree either of negligence or
security in the day of his prosperity, which might
provoke God thus to chastise him. [1.] He had
not been negligent and unmindful of liis affairs, but
kept up such a fear of trouble as was necessaiy to
the maintaining of his guard: he was afraid for his
children, when they were feasting, lest they should
offend God; {ch. i. 5.) afraid for his ser\ants, lest
the) should offend his neighbours; he took all the
care he could of his own health, and managed
himself and his affairs with all possible precaution;
yet all would not do. [2.] He had not been se-
cure, nor indulged himself in ease and softness, had
not trusted in his wealth, nor flattered himself with
the hopes of the perpetuity of his mirth; yet trou-
ble came, to convince and remind him of the vanity
of the world, which yet he had not forgotten when
he lived at ease. Thus his way was hid, for he
knew not wherefore God contended with him.
Now this consideration, instead of aggra\ ating his
grief, might rather serve to alleviate it: nothing
will make trouble easy so much as the testimony
of our consciences for us, that, in some measure,
we did our di;*;," ,ii a day of prosperity: and an ex-
pectation of ti'ouble will make it sit the lighter
when it comes. The less it is a surprise, the less
it is a terroi*.

CHAP. IV.

Job having warmly given vent to his passion, and so bro-
ken the ice, his friends hore come gravely tn pive vent
to their judgment upon his case; uhich pi ihaps they
had communicated to one another apart, compared
notes upon it, and talked it over amonjr themselves, and
found they were all agreed in their verdict, that Job's
afflictions certainly proved him to have been a hypo-
crite; but they did not attack Job with this high charge,
till by the expressions of his discontent and impatience,
in which they thought he reflected on God himself, he
had confirmed them in the bnd opinion they had before
conceived of him and his character. Now they set upon
him with great fear. The dispute begins, and it soon
becomes fierce. The opponents are Job's three friends,
Job himself is icspondcnt, Elihii appears, fir't, as mode-
rator, and, at length, God himself gives judgment upon
the controversy, and the management of it. The ques-
tion in dispute, is, whether Job was an honest man or
no? The same question that was in dispute between
God and Satan in the two first chapters. Satan had
yielded it, and durst not pretend that his cursing of his
day was a constructive cursing of his God; no, he can-
not deny but that Job still holds fast his integrity; but
Job's friends will needs have it, that, if Job were an
honest man, he would not have been thus sorely and
thus tediously afflicted, and therefore urge him to con-
fess himself a hypocrite in the profession he had made
of religion : " No," says Job, " that 1 will never do ; I
have offended God, but my heart, notwithstanding, has
been upright %vith him;"" and still he holds fast the
comfort of his integrity. Eliphaz, who, it is likely, was
the senior, or of the best quality, begins with him in this
chapter; in which, I. He bespeaks a patient hearing, v.
2. II. He compliments Joh with an acknowledgment
of the eminency and usefulness of the profession he had
made of religion, v. S, 4. III. He charges him ivith
hvpocrisy in his profession, grounding his charge upon
his present troubles, and his conduct under them, v. a, 6.
IV. To make good the inference, he maintains, that
man's wickedness is that which always brings God's
judgments, v. 7. .11. V. He corroborates his assertion
by a vision which he had, in which he was reminded of
the incontestable purity and justice of God, and th«
meanness, weakness, and sinfulness, of man, v. 12.. 21.

28

JOB, IV.

By all this he aims to bring down Job's spirit, and to jl
make him both penitent and patient under liis afflic- ji
tiotis.

THEN Elipliaz the Temanite an-
swered and said, 2. If we assay
to commune with thee, wilt thou be griev-
ed ? But who can withhold himself from
speaking ? 3. Behold, thou hast instructed
many, and thou hast strengthened the weak
hands. 4. Thy words have upholden him
that was falling, and thou hast strengthened
the feeble knees. 5. But now it is come
upon tiiee, and thou faintest; it toucheth
thee, and thou art troubled. 6. Is not this
thy fear, thy confidence, the uprightness of
thy ways, and thy hope ?

In these verses,

1. Eliphaz excuses the trouble he is now about
to give to Job by his discourse; (t'. 2. ) " If we assay
a word with thee, offer a word of reproof and coun-
sel, wilt thou be grieved, and take it ill? We have
reason to fear thou wilt: but there is no remedy;
Who can refrain from words?" Observe, 1. With
what modesty he speaks of himself and his own
attempt. He will not undertake the management
of the cause alone, but very humbly joins his friends
with him; "We will commune with thee:" they
that plead God's cause, must be glad of help, lest
it suffer through their weakness. He will not
promise much, but begs leave to assay or attempt,
and try if he could propose any thing that might be
pertinent, and suit Job's case. In difficult matters,
it becomes us to pretend no further, but only to try
what mav be said or done. Many excellent dis-
courses have gone under the modest title of Essays.
2. With what tenderness he speaks of Job, and his
present afflicted condition; **If we tell thee our
mind, wilt thou be grieved? Wilt thou take it ill?
Wilt thou lay it to thine own heart as thine afflic-
tion, or to our charge as our fault? Shall we be
reckoned unkind and cruel, if we deal plainly and
f uthfullv with thee? We desire we may not, we
hope we shall not, and should be sorry if that
should be ill resented which is well intended."
Note, We ouu;ht to be afraid of grieving any, espe-
ciallv those that are already in grief, lest we add
affliction to the afflicted, as David's enemies, Ps.
Ixix. 26. We should show ourselves backward
to say that which we foresee will be grievous,
though ever so necessary. God himself, though
he afflicts justly, vet he does not afflict willinglv.
Lam. iii. S.". 3. With what assurance he speaks
of the truth and pertinency of what he was about
to say; Who can tvithhold himself from s/ieakirig?
Surely it was a pious zeal for God's honour, and
the spiritual welfare of Job, that laid him under
this necessity of speaking; "Who can forbear
speaking in vindication of God's honour, which we
hear reproved, in love to thy soul, which we see
endangei-ed?" Note, It is foolish pity not to re-
prove our friends, even our friends in affliction, for
what they sav or do amiss, only for fear of offend-
ing them. Whether men take it well or ill, we
must with wisdom and meekness do our duty, and
discharge a Rood conscience.

II. He exhibits a twofold charge against Job.
1. As to his particvilar conduct under this afflic-
tion; he charges him with weakness and faint-
heartedness; this article of his charge there was
too much groimd for, v. 3 . . 5. And here,

(1.) He takes notice of .Job's former serviceable-
ness to the comfort of others. He owns that Job
had instructed many, not only his own children and

ser\ants, but many others, his neighbours and
friends, as many as fell within the sphere of his
activity. He did not only encoui"igc tiicse who
were teachers by office and crunteudnce them, and
pay for the teaching of tliose who were poor, but
he did himself instruct many: though a great man,
he did not think it below him. King Solomon was
a preacher: though a man of business, he ffund
time to do it, went among his neighbours, talked to
them about their souls, and ga\ e them good coun-
sel. O that this example of Job were iniitated l)y
our great men! If he met with those who were
ready to fall into sin, or sink under their troubles,
his words upheld them: a wonderful dcxteiity he
had in offering that which was ])roper to foi-tify
persons against temptations, to support them under
their burthens, and to comfort affli ted consciences.
He had, and used, the tongue of the learned, knew
how to speak a word in season to them that were
weary, and employed himself much in that good
work. With suitable counsels and comforts he
strengthened the weak hands for w( rk and service
and the spiritual warfare, and the feeble knees for
bearing up the man in his journey and under his
load. It is not our duty only to lift up our own
hands, that haiig down, by quickening and encou-
raging ourselves in the way of duty, (Heb. xii. 12.)
but we must also strengthen the weak hands of
others, as there is occasion, and do what we can
to confirm their feeble knees, by saying to them
that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, Isn. xxxv.
3, 4. 1 he expressions seem to be borrowed
thence. Note, They who have abundance of
spiritual riclies, should abound in spiritual charity.
A good word, well and wisely spoken, may do
more good than perhaps we think of.

But why does Eliphaz mention this here? [1.]
Perhaps he praises him thus for the good he had
done, that he might make the intended reproof the
more passable with him. Just commendation is a
good preface to a just reprehension, will help to
remove prejudices, and will show that the reiirocf
comes not from ill-will. Paul praised the C' rin-
thians before he chid them, 1 Cor. xi. 2. [2.] He
remembers how Job had comforted others as a
reason why he might justly expect to be himself
comforted; and yet, if conviction was necessary in
order to comfort, they nnist be excused if tliey
applied themselves to that first: the Comforter
shall refirove, John xvi. 8. [3.] He speaks this,
perhaps, in away of pity, lamenting, tlnit, thrrut'h
the extremity of his affliction, he cf uld not apj)ly
those comforts to himself which he had formerly
administered to others. It is easier to ^^xe good
counsel than to take it; to preach meekness and
patience than to practise them. Facile onnw.i,
cum valemus, rectum concilium Fegrotis damns —
JVe all find it easy, when in health, to gii-e good
advice to the sick. Terent. [4.] Most think th-,t
he mentions it as an aggravation of his present dis-
content, upbraiding him with his knowledge, md
the good offices he had done for others, as if he
had said, "Thou th;it hast taught others, why dr st
not thou teach thyself? Is not this an evidence '^f
thine hypocrisy, that thou hast prescribed thi't
medicine to others which thou wilt not now titke
thyself, and so contradictcst thyself, and actest
against thine own known principles^ Thmi th;'.t
teachest another not to faint, dost tlnni faint? Hrm.
ii. 21. Physician, heal thyself. " They who h:\\e
rebuked others, must expect to hear of it, if they
themselves become obnoxious to rcliuke.

(2.) He upbraids him with his present low-spirit-
edness, V. 5. "Now that it is come upon thee,
now that it is thy turn to be afflicted, and the bitter
cup, that goes round, is put into thy hand, now that
it touches thee, thou faintest, thou art troubled *

JOB, IV.

sy

Here, [1.] He maKes loo light of Job's afflictions;
"It touches thee." The very word that Satan
h.niself had used, ch. i. 11. — ii. 5. Had Eliphaz
felt but tiie one half of Job's afflictions, he would
have said, "It smites me, it wounds me;" but,
spitaking of Job's afflictions, he makes a mere trifle
of It; "It touches thee, and thou canst not bear to
be lo iched;" jYoli me tangere — Touch me not. [2. ]
He makes too much of Job's resentments, and ag-
gravates them; "Thou faintest, or thou art beside
thyself; thou ravest, and knowest not what thou
sayest. " Men in deep distress must have grains of
allowance, and a favourable construction put upon
what tliey say; when we make the worst of every
word, we do not as we would be done by.

2. As to his general character before this afflic-
tion, he charges hiai with wickedness and false-
heartedness; that article of his charge was utterly
groundless and unjust. How unkindly does he
banter him, and upbraid him with the great pro-
fession of religion he had made, as if it were all
now come to nothing, and proved a sham; {v. 6.)
"Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hofie, and
the ujirightnesH of thy ways? Does it not all appear
now to be a mere pretence? For, hadst thou been
sincere in it, God would not thus have afflicted
thee, nor wouldest thou have behaved thus under
the affliction." This was the very thing Satan
aimed at, to prove Job a hypocrite, and disprove
the character God had given of hini: wlien he
could no: himself do this to God, but He still saw
and said. Job is fierfect and upright, then he en-
deavoured, by his friends, to do it to Job himself,
and to persuade him to confess himself a hypocrite:
coald he ha\e gained tliat point, he would have
triumphed, Hahes conjitentem reum — Out of thine
own mouth will I cojidemn thee. But, by the
grace of God, Job was enabled to hold fast his
integrity, and would not bear false witness against
himself Nijte, Those that pass rash and unchari-
tal:)le censures upon their brethren, and condemn
them for hypocrites, do Satan's work, and serve
his interest, more than they are aware of, I know
not how it comes to pass that this verse is diffe-
rently read in several editions of our common Eng-
lish Bibles; the original, and all the ancient ver-
sions, put thy hope before the uprightness of thy
ways. So does the Geneva and most of the edi-
tions of the last translation; but I find one of the
first, in 1612, has it. Is not this thy fear, thy confi-
dence, the uprightness of thy ways, and thy hope?
Both the Assembly's Annotations, and Mr. Poole's, '
ha^•e that reading; and an edition in 1660 reads it,
"7s not thy fear thy confidence, and the upright-
ness of thy ways thy hope? Does it not appear
now, that all the religion, both of thy devotion, and
of thy conversation, was only in hope and confi-
dence that thiu shouldest grow rich by it? Was it
not all mercenary^" The very thing that Satan
suggested. Is not thy religion thy hope, and thy
right ways thy confidence? So Mr. Broughton.
Or, "Was it not? Didst thou not think that that
would hive been thy protection? But thou art de-
ceived." Or, "Would it not have been so? If it
had been sincere, would it not have kept thee from
this despair?" It is true, if thou faint in the day
of adversity, thy strength, thy grace, is small;
(Prov. xxiv. 10.) but it does not therefore follow
that thou hast nn grace, no strength at all. A
man's character is not to be taken from a single act.

7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever
perished, being innocent ? or where were
the righteous cut off? 8. Even as I have
seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow
wickedness; reap the same. 9. By the

blast of God they perish, and by the breath
of his nostrils are they consumed. 10. Tiie
roaring of the lion, and the voice of the
fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions,
are broken. 1 1 . The old lion perisheth ibr
lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps
are scattered abroad.

Eliphaz here advances another argument to
prove Job a hypocrite, and will have not only his
impatience under his afflictions to be evidence
against him, but even his afflictions themselves,
being so very great and extraordinary, and there be-
ing no prospect at all of his deliverance out of them.

To strengthen this argument, he here lays down
these two principles, which seem plausible enough.

I. That good men were never thus ruined: for
the proof of this, he appeals to Job's own observa-
titn; {v. 7.) "Remember, I pray thee; recollect all
that thou hast seen, heard, or read, and give me
an instance of any one that was innocent and
righteous, and yet perished as thou dost, and w;is
cut off as thou art." If we understand it of a final
and eternal destniction, his principle is true. None
that are innocent and righteous, perish for ever: it
is only a man of sin that is a son of perdition, 2
Thess. ii. 3. But then it is ill applied to Job; he
did not thus perish, nor was he cut off: a man is
never undone till he is in hell. But, if we under-
stand it of any temporal calamity, his principle is
not true. The righteous perish; (Isa. Ivii. 1.) There
is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked,
(Eccl. ix. 2.) both in life and death; the great and
certain difference is after death. Even before Job's
time, (as early as it was,) there were instances
sufficient to contradict this principle. Did not righ-
teous .4bel perish being innocent; and was not he
cut off in the beginning of his days? Was not
righteous Lot burnt out of house and harbour, and
forced to retire to a melancholy cave? Was not
righteous Jacob, a Syrian, ready to perish? Deut.
xxvi. 5. Similar instances, no doubt, there were,
which are not on record.

II. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for
the proof of this, he vouches his own observation ;
(v. 8.) "Even as I have seen, many a time, 77ifj/
that plough iniquity, and sew wickedness, by the
blast of God they perish, v. 9. We ha', e daily in-
stances rf that; and therefore, since thou dost thus
perish, and art consumed, we have reason to think
that, whatever profession of religion thcu hast made,
ihouhastbutploughed iniquity , andsown wickedness.
Even as I have seen in others, so do I see in tlu-e."

I. He speaks of sinners in general, politic busy
sinners, that take pains in sin, for they plough ini-
quity; and expect gain by sin, for they sow wicked-
ness: they that plough, plovigh in hope; but what is
the issuer They reap the same: they shall, of the
fesh, reap corruptioji and ruin, Gal. vi. 7, 8. The
harvest will l)e a heap in the day of grief and des-
perate sorrow, Isa. xvii. 11. He shall reap the
same, that is, the proper product of that seedness:
that which the sinner sows, he sows not that bodv
that shall be, but Gnd will give it a body, a brdy rf
death, the erid of those things, Rom. vi. 21. Somi%
by iniquity and wickedness, luiderstand wrong nnd
injury done to others; they who plough and sow
them, shall reap the same, that is, they shall be
paid in their own coin. They who are trouble-
some, shall be troubled, 2 Thess. i. 6. Josh, -v ii. 25.
The sfioilers shall be spoiled; Isa. xxxiii. 1. (and
they that led captive, shall go captive,) Rev. xiii. 10.

He further describes their destruction; {v. 9.)
By the blast of God they perish. The prcjccts;
they take so much pains in, are defeated; God cuts

30

JOB, IV.

in sunder the cords of those ploughers, Ps. cxxix.
3, 4. They tliemseh es are destri.yl:cl, which is the
just punish'meiit of tliea- iniquity. They perish,
that is, tliey are destroyed utterly; they are con-
sumed, th.it is, they are destroyed gradually; and
this, Ijy the blast and breath of God, that is, (1.)
By his wrath: his anger is the ruin of sinners, who
f'.re therenire caled vessels of -wrcith, and his
breath is said f,o Ic'mdle 'I'ofiliet, Isa. xxx. 33. Who
knows the /iowe7- of his anger ■^ Ps. xc. 11. (2.) By
ins word; he speaks, and it is done, easily and ef-
fectually. The Spirit of God, in the word, con-
sumes sinners; with that he slays them, Hos. vi. 5.
Saying and doing are not two tilings with God.
The man of s;n is said to be consumed with the
breath of Christ's mouth, 2 Thess. ii. 8. Compare
Isa. xi. 4. Rev. xix. 21. Some think, that in attri-
buting the destruction of sinners to the blast of God,
and the breath of his nostrils, he refers to the wind
which blew the house down upon Job's children, as
if they were therefore siimers above all men, be-
cause they suffered such things, Luke xiii. 2.

2. He speaks particularly of tyrants and cruel
oppressors, under the similitude of lions, v. 10, 11.
Observe, (1.) How he describes their ciuelty and
oppression. The Hebrew tongue has five several
names for lions, and they are all here used to set
forth the terrible tearing power, fierceness, and
cruelty, of pi-oud op])ressors; they roar, and rend,
and prey, upon all about them, and bring up their
young ones to do so too, Ezek. xix. 3. The Devil
IS a roaring lion; and they partake of his nature,
and do his lusts. Thev are strong as lions, and
subtle; (Ps. x. 9. — xviii 12.) and, as far as they
prevail, lay all desolate about them. (2.) How he
describes their destruction; the destruction both of
their p-nver and of their persons; they shall be re-
strained from doing further hurt, and reckoned with
for the hurt they h:ive done. An effectual course
shall be taken, [1.] That they shall not terrify; the
voice of their roaring shall be stopped. [2.] That
they shall not tear; God will disarm them, will take
away their power to do hurt, the teeth of the young
liojis are broken, Ps. iii. 7. Thus shall tlie remain-
der of wrath be restrained. [3.] That they shall
not enrich themselves with the spoil of their neigh-
bours. Even the old lion is famished, and perishes
for lack of prey : they that have surfeited on spoil
and rapine, are perhaps reduced to such straits as
to die of !iun:i;er at last. [4.] That they shall not,
as they promise themselves, leave a succession; the
stout lion's whel/2s are scattered abroad, to seek for
food themselves, which the old ones used to bring
in for them, Nah. ii. 12. The lion did tear in pieces
for his ".vhelps, but now they must shift for them-
selves. Perhajjs Eliphaz intended, in this, to re-
flect upon Job, as if he, being the greatest of all the
men of the east, had got his estate by spoil, and
used his power in oppressing his neighbours; but
now, his ]30wer and estate were gone, and his fami-
Iv scattered: if so, it was pity that a man whom
God praised, should be thus abused.

2. Now a thing was secretly brought to
me, and mine ear received a httle thereof.
1 3. In thouglits from the visions of the night,
when deep sleep falleth on men, 1 4. Fear
came upon me, and trembling, which made
all my bones to shake. 15. Then a spirit
passed before my face ; the hair of my flesh
.stood up : 1 6. It stood still, but I could not
discern the form thereof: an image ?/r/,9
Ix'fore mine eyes; thnre was silence, and I
heard a voice, saijing, 17. Shall mortal

man be more just than God? shall [i man
be more pure than his Maker / 1 8. Beholci,
he put no trust in his servants; and his an-
gels he charged with folly : 19. View nnich
less o/< them that dwell in houses off|;iy,
whose foundation is in the dust, 7r/iicn hiv.
crushed before the moth ? 20. They are
destroyed from morning to evening: they
perish for ever, without any regarding if. 2 1 .
Doth not their excellency it'/iich is in them
go away? they die, even without wisdom.

Eliphaz, having undertaken to convince Job of the
sin and folly of his discontent and impatience, here
vouches a vision he had been favoured with, which
he relates to Job for his conviction. What comes
immediately from God, all men will pay a particu-
lar deference to, and Job, no doubt, as much as ;my.
Some think Eliphaz had this vision now lately, since
he came to Job, putting words into his mouth
wherewith to reason with him; and it had been well
if he had kept to the purport of this \ision, which
would ser\ e for a ground on which to repro\ e Job
for his murmuring, but not to condemn him for a
hvpocrite. Others think he had \t formerly; for God
dicl in this way often communicate himself to the
children of men in those first ages of the world, ch.
xxxiii. 15. Probably, God had sent Eliphaz this
messenger and message some time or other, when
he was himself in an unquiet discontented frame, to
calm and pacify him. Note, As we should comfort
others with that wherewith we have been comfort-
ed, (2 Cor. i. 4.) so we should endeavour toconvince
others with that which has been powerful to con-
vince us.

The people of God had not then any written word
to quote, and therefore God sometimes notified to
them e\ en common truths, by the exti-aordinary
ways y.^ re\elatinn. We that have Bibles, have
there (thai.!?s be to God) a more sure word to de-
pend upon than even visions and voices, 2 Pet. i. 19.

Observe,

I. The manner in which this message was sent
to Eliphaz, and the circumstances of the convey-
ance of it to him. 1. It was brought him secretly,
or by stealth; some of the sweetest communion gra-
cious souls have with God, is in secret, where he
only, who is all eye, can perceive. God has ways
olt bringing conviction, counsel, and comfort, to his
people, unobserved by the world, by private whis-
pers, as powerfully and effectually as by the public
ministry. His secret is vjith them, Ps. xxv. 14. As
the evil spirit often steals good words out of the
heart, (Matth. xiii. 19.) so the good Spirit some-
times steals good words into the heart, or ever we
are aware. 2. He received a little thereof x'. 12.
And it is but little of divine knowledge that the best
receive in this world: we know little, in comparison
with what is to be known, and with what we sh:ill
know when we come to heaven. How little a por-
tion is heard of God! ch. xxvi. 14. We knonvbut in
part, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. See his humility and m«'des-
ty. He pretends not to have understood it fully,
but something of it he perceived. 3. It was brought
him in the visions of the night; {v. 13.) when he
was retired from the world and the hurrv of it, and
all about him was composed and quiet. Kotc, The
more we are withdrawn from the world and the
things of it, the fitter we are for comnumion with
(iod. W'hen we are communing with our own
hearts, and are still, (Ps. iv. 4.) then is a proper
time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us.
\N hen others were aslee]>, Eliphaz was rcadv tr
receive thisxision fi'om Heaven, and pr«b:ibly, likt
Da\id, was meditating upon God in the night

JOB, IV.

31

ivatches: in the midst ot those good thoughts, this
tiling was brought to him. We should hear more
from God, if we tliought more of him; yet some are
surprised with convictions in the night, ch. xxxiii.

14, 15. 4. It was prefaced with terrors; Fear
rume upon him, and tremhl'mg, v. 14. It should
seem, before he either heard or saw any thing, he
was seized with this trembling, which shook his
bones, and perhaps the bed under him. A holy
awe and reverence of God and his majesty being
struck, upon his spirit, he was thereby prepared for
a divine visit. Whom God intends to honour, he
first humbles and lays low, and will have us all to
serve him with holy fear, and to rejoice with trem-
bling.

II. The messenger by whom it was sent; a spirit,
one of the good angels, who are employed not only
as the ministers of God's providence, but sometimes
as the ministers of his word. Concerning this ap-
parition which Eliphaz saw, we are here told, (zi.

15, 16.) 1. That it was real, and not a dream, not
a fancy; an image was before his eyes, he plainly
saw it; at first, it passed and repassed before his
face, moved up and down, but, at length, it stood
still to speak to him. If some have been so knavish
as to impose false \ isions on others, and some so
foolish as to be themselves imposed upon, it does
not, therefore, follow that there have been no ap-
paritions of spirits, botli good and bad. 2. That it
was indistinct, and somewhat confused. He could
not discern the form thereof, so as to frame any ex-
act idea of it in his own mind, much less to give a
description of it. His conscience was to be awak-
ened and informed, not his curiosity gratified. We
know little of spirits, we are not capable of knowing
much of them, nor is it fit we should; all in good
time; we must shortly remove to the world of spi-
rits, and shall then be better acquainted with them.
3. That it put him into a great consternation, so
that his hair stood .on end. Ever since man sinned,
it has been terrible to him to receive an express from
Heaven, as conscious to himself that he can expect
no good tidings thence; apparitions, therefore, even
of good spirits, have always made deep impressions
of fear, even upon good men. How well is it for us,
that God sends us his messages, not by spirits, but
by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make
us afraid! See Dan. vii. 28. — x. 8, 9.

III. The message itself; before it was delivered,
there was silence, profound silence, v. 16. When
we are to speak either from God, or to him, it be-
comes us to address ourselves to it with a solemn
pause, and so to set bounds about the mount on
which God is to come down, and not be hasty to
utter any thing. It was in a still small voice that
the message was delivered, and this was it, {v. 17.)
''Shall mortal 7nan be more just than God, the im-
mortal God? Shall a man be thought to be, or pre-
tend to be, more fiure than his Maker? Away with
such a thought!" 1. Some think that Eliphaz aims
hereby to prove that Job's great afflictions were a
certain evidence of his being a wicked man; a mor-
tal man would be thought unjust and very impure,
if he should thus correct and punish a servant or
subject, unless he had been guilty of some \ery
great crime. "If, therefore, these were not some
great crimes for which God thus punishes thee,
man would be more just than God, which is not to
be imagined." 2. I rather think it is onlv a reproof
of Job's murmuring and discontent; "Shall a man
pretend to be more just and pure than God? More
truly to understand, and more strictly to observe,
t'le rules and laws of equity, than God? Shall
Enosh, mortal, miserable, man, be so insolent; nay,
shall Geher, the strongest and most eminent man —
man at his best estate, pretend to compare with
God, or stand in competition with him?" Note, It

is most impious and absurd to think either others
or ourselves more just and pure than God. Thosi-
that quarrel &nd find fault with the directions of the
divine law, the dispensations of the divine grace,
or the disposals of the divine providence, make
themselves more just and pure than God; and they
who thus refirove God, let them aiisnver it. What!
sinful ma* 1 (for he had not been mortal, if he had not
been sinful!) short-sighted man! Shall he pretend
to be more just, more pure, than God, who, being
his Maker, is his I..ord and Owner? Shall the clay
contend with the potter? What justi( e and purity
there is in man, (iod is the Author of it, and there-
fore is himself moi-e just and pure. See Ps. xciv.
9, 10.

IV. The comment which Eliphaz makes upon
this, for so it seems to be; yet some take all the
following verses to be spoken in vision. It comes
all to one.

1. He shows how little the angels themselves are
in comparison with God, v. 18. Angels are God's
servants, waiting servants, woi'king ser\ants, they
are his ministers; (Ps. civ. 4.) bright and blessed
things they are; but God neither needs them, oor is
benefitted by them, and is himself infinitelv above
them; and therefore, (1.) He put no trust in them,
did not repose a confidence in them, as we do in
those we cannot live without; there is no service in
which he employs them, but, if he pleased, he
could have it done as well without them. He nevei
made them his confidants, or of his cabinet-council,
Matth. xxiv. 36. He does not leave his business
wholly to them, bwt his own eyes ru7i to and fro
through the earth, 2Chron. xvi. 9. See this phrase,
ch. xxxix. 11. Some give this sense of it, "So
mutable is even the angelical nature, that God
would not trust angels with tlieir own integrity; if
he had, they would all have done, as some did, left
their first estate; but he saw it necessary to give
them supernatural grace to confirm them. "(2.)
He charges them with folly, vanity, weakness, in-
firmity, and imperfection, in comparison with God.
If the world were left to the government of tlie an
gels, and they were trusted with the sole manage-
ment of aflairs, they would take false steps, and
every thing would not be done for the best, as now
it is. Angels are intelligences, but finite ones.
Though not chargeable with iniquity, yet with im-
prudence. This last clause is variously rendered
by the critics. I think it would bear this read-
ing, repeating the negation, which is very common.
He will put no trust in his saints. In angelis snis
non fionet gloria/ionem — .Yor will he glory in his
angels, or ?nake his boast of them, as if their praises
or services added any thing to him: it is his glory,
that he is infinitely happy without them.

2. Thence he infers how much less man is, how
much less to be trusted in, or gk ried in: if there is
such distance between God and angels, what is
there between Gvx\ and man! See how man is re-
presented here in his meanness.

(1.) Look upon man in his life, and he is uery
mean, xk 19. Take man in his best estate, and he
is a very despicable creature in comparison with the
holy angels; though honourable, if compared with
the brutes. It is true, angels are spirits, and tin.
souls of men are spirits; but, [1.] Angels are pure
j spirits, the souls of men dwell in houses of clay,
such the bodies of men are. Angels are free, hu-
man souls are housed, and the body is a cloud, a
clog, to it, it is its cage, it is its prison. It is a house
of clay, mean and mouldering; an earthen vessel,
soon broken, as it was first formed, according to
the good pleasure of the potter. It is a cottage,not
a house of cedar, or a house of ivory, but of clav,
which would soon be in ruins, if not kept in constant
repair. [2.] Angels are fixed; but the very foun

32

JOB, V.

dation of that house of clay in which man dwells,
is in the dust. ,\ house of clay, if built upon a
rock, might stand long; hut, if fduni'.C'd jn the dust,
the uncertainty of the f )iuiJation will hasten its fall,
and it will sink with its own weight. As man was
made out of the earth, so he is maintained and sup-
ported by that which conies out of the earth. Take
away that, and his b' dy returns to its eartl^ We
stand but up(<n the dust; some lia'. e a higher heap
of dust to stand upon than others, but still it is the
tai'th that stays us up, and will shoitly swallow us
u]). [3.] Angels are immortal, but man is soon
crushed, the earthly house of his tabernacle is dis-
solved, he dies and wastes away, is crushed like a
moth lietween one's fingers, as easily, as quickly;
one may alinost as soon kill a man as kill a moth. A
little thing will do it; he is crwihcd before the face
of the moth, so the word is. If s( me lingering dis-
temper, which consumes like a moth, be commis-
sioned to destroy him, he can no more resist it than
he can resist an acute distemper, which comes i-oar-
ing upon him like a lion. See Hos. v. 12, 14. Is
such a creature as this to be trusted in, or can any
service be expected from him, by that God who
puts no trust in angels themselves?

(2.) Look upon him in his death, and he appears
yet more despicable, and unfit tc> be trusted. Men
are mortal, and dying, v. 20, 21. [1.] In death,
they are destroyed, and perish for ever, as to this
world; it is the final period of their lives, and all
their employments and enjoyments here; their
place will know them no more. [2.] They are
dying daily, and continually wasting; destJ-oyed
from moryiing to evening; death is still working in
us, like a mole digging our grave at each remove,
and we so continually lie exposed, that we are kill-
ed all the dav long. [3.] Their life is short, and
in a little time they are cut off; it lasts perhaps but
from morning to evening. It is but a day; (so some
understand it;) their birth and death are but the
sun-rise and sun-set of the same day. [4.] In
death, all their excellency passes away; beauty,
strength, learning, not only cannot secure them
from death, but die with them; nor shall their
pomp, their wealth, or power, descend after them.
[5.] Their wisdotn cannot sa\e them from death;
they die without wisdom, die for want of wisdom,
by their own foolish management of themselves,
digging their graves with their own teeth. [6. ] It
is so common a thing that nobody heeds it, or takes
any notice of it; they perish ivithout any rcj^'arding
it, or laying it to heart. The deaths of others are
much the suliject of common talk, but little the
subject of serious thought.

Some think the eternal damnation of sinners is
here spoken of, as well as their temporal death.
Then are destroyed, or broken to /lieces, by death,
from morning to evening; and if they re/tent Jiot,
they fierish for ever, so some read it, v. 20. They
perish for ever, because they regard not God
and their duty, they consider not their latter end.
Lam. i. 9. Tiicy have nn excellency but that
which death takes away, and they die, they die the
second death, for want of wisdom to lay hold on
eternal life. Shall such a mean, weak, foolish,
sinful, dying, creature as this, pretend to be niore
just than God, and more pure than his Maker?
No, instead of quarrelling with his afflictions, let
him wonder than he is out of hell.

CHAP. V.

Eliphaz, in the foresroinfr chapter, for the making good of
his charjre ajjainst .Job, had vouched a word from Hea-
ven, sent, him in a vision. In this chapter, he appeals to
those that bear record on earth, to the saints, the faithful
witnesses of God's trulh.s, in all ages, v. 1. They will
testify, I. That the sin of sinners is their ruin, v. 2. .5.
II. That yet affliction is the common lot of mankind, v.

6, 7. III. That when we are in affliction, it is our wis-
dom and dutv to apply ourselves to God, for he is able
and ready to lielp us, v. 8 . . 16. IV. That the afflictions
which are borne well will end well: and Job particularly
if he would come to a better temper, mj^'ht assure hiiii-
self that God had great mercy in store for him, v.
17.. 27. So that he concludes his discourse in some-
what a better humour than he besan it.

"^ALL now, if there be any that
will answer thee ; and to which of
the saints wilt thou turn ? 2. For wrath kil-
leth the foolish man, and envy slayetii the
silly one. 3. I have seen the fbohsh taking
root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4. His children are far from safety, and they
are crushed in the gate, neither is there any
to deliver thctn. 5. \N'hose harvest the
hungry eateth up, and laketh it even out
of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up
their substance.

A very warm dispute being begun between Job
and his friends, Eliphaz here makes a fair motion to
put the matter to a reference; in all debates, per-
liaps, the sooner that is done the better, if the con-
tenders cannot end it between themselves. So well
assured is Eliphaz of the goodness of his own cause,
that he moves Job himself to choose the arbitrators;
{v. 1.) Call now, if there be any that will an-
swer thee; that is, 1. " If there be any that suffer
as thou sufferest: canst thou produce an instance of
any one, that was really a saint, that was reduced
to such extremity as thou art now reduced to? God
never dealt with any that love his name so as he
deals with thee, and therefore surely thou art none
of them." 2. "If there be any that say as thou
sayest: did ever any good man curse his day as thou
dost? Or, will any of the saints justify thee in these
heats or passions, or say that these are the spots of
God's children? Thou wilt find none of the saints
that will be either thine advt catcs, or mine antago-
nists. 7'o which of the saints wilt thou turn'/ Turn to
which thou wilt, and thou wilt find they are all of
my mind; I have the communis sensjisjidelium —
t/te unariimous vote of all the saints on my side;
they will all subscribe to what I am g^ing to say."
Observe, (1.) Good people are called saints, even
in the Old Testament; and therefore I know net
why we should, in common speaking, (miless be-
catise we must loqui cum vulgo — speak as our
neighbours,) appropriate the title to those of the
New Testament, and net say St. Abraham, St.
Moses, and St. Isaiah, as well as St. Matthew, and
St. Mark; and St. David the psalmist, as well as St.
David the British Bishop. Aaron is exj)! cssly called
the saint of the Lord. (2.) All that are themselves
saints, will turn to those that are so; will choose
them for their friends, and converse with them;
will choo.se them for their judges, and ernsult with
them. See Ps. cxix. 79. The saints sh;dly'z/rfj;-e Mr
world, 1 Cor. vi. 1, 2. Walk in the way of good
men, (Prov. ii. 20.) the old way, the foofsfe/is of the
flock. Every one chooses some sort of people v\
other to whom he studies to recommend himseU',
and whose sentiments are to him the test of honoui-
and dishonour: now all true saints endeavour to i-e
commend themselves to those that are such, and to
stand right in their opinion. (3.) There are some
truths so plain, and so universally known and !je-
lieved, that one may venture to a])])eal to any c f
the saints concerning them. However there .are
some things, about which they unha])pily differ,
there are many more, and more considerable, in

JOB, V.

33

which the)- are agreed; as the evil of sin, the vanity
of the world, the worth of the soul, the necessity of
a holy life, and the like. Though they do not all
live up, as they should, to their belief of these truths,
yet they are all ready to bear their testimony to
them.

Now there are two things which Eliphaz here
maintains, and in which he doubts not but all the
saints concur with him.

I. That the sin of sinners directly tends to their
own ruin; {v. 2.) Wrath kills the foolish man, his
own wrath, and therefore he is foolish for indulging
it; it is a fire in his bones, in his blood, enough to
put him into a fever; envy is the rottenness of the
bones, and so slays the silly one that frets himself
with it. " So it is with thee;" says Eliphaz; " while
thou quarrellest with God, thou doest thyself the
greatest mischief; thine anger at thine own trou-
bles, and thine envy at our prospeiity, do but add
to thy pain and miseiy: turn to the saints, and thou
wilt find they understand themselves better." Job
had told his wife she spake as the foolish women,
now Eliphaz tells him he acted as the foolish men,
the silly ones. Or, it may be meant thus: " If men
are ruined and undone, it is always their own folly
that ruins and undoes them. They kill themselves
by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt. Job,
thou hast done some foolish thing, by which thou
hast brought thyself into this calamitous condition. "
Many understand it of God's wrath and jealousy.
Job needed not be uneasy at the prosperity of the
wicked, for the world's smiles can never shelter
them from God's frowns; they are foolish and silly,
if they think they will. God's anger will be the
death, the eternal death, of those on whom it fast-
ens. What is hell, but God's anger without mix-
ture or period.*

II. That their prosperity is short, and their de-
struction certain, -v. 3"5. He seems here to paral-
lel Job's case with that which is commonly the case
of wicked people.

1. Job had prospered for a time, seemed confirm-
ed, and was secure in his prosperity; and it is com-
mon for foolish wicked men to do so. I have seen
them taking root, planted, and, in their own and
other's apprehension, fixed, and likely to continue.
See Jer. xii. 2. Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36. We set world-
ly men taking root in the earth; on earthly things
they fix the standing of their hopes, and from them
they draw the sap of their comforts. The outward
estate may be flourishing, but the soul cannot pros-
per that takes root in the earth.

2. Job's prosperity was now at an end, and so
has the prosperity of other wicked people quickly
been.

(1.) Eliphaz foresaw their ruin with an eye of
faith. They who looked only at present things,
blessed their habitation, and thought them happy,
blessed it long, and wished themselves in their
condition. But Eliphaz cursed it, suddenly cursed
it, as soon as he saw them begin to take root, that
is, he plainly foresaw and foretold their ruin; not
that he prayed for it, (/ have not desired the nvoe-
fulday,) but he prognosticated it. He went into
the sanctuary, and there understood their end, and
heard their doom read, (Ps. Ixxiii. 17, 18.) That
the prosperity of fools will destroy them, Prov. i.
32. They who believe the word of God, can see
a curse in the house of the wicked, (Prov. iii. 33. )
though it be ever so finely and firinly built, and
ever so full of all good things; and can foresee that
it wiU, in time, infallibly consume it, with the
timber thereof, and the stones thereof, Zech. v. 4.

(2.) He saw, at length, what he had foreseen:
he was not disappointed in his expectation concern-
ing him, the event answered it; his family was un-
tione, and his estate ruined. In these particulars.

Vol. hi.— E

he plainly and very invidiously reflects on Job's ca-
lamities. [1.] His children were crushed, v. 4.
They thought tliemseh es safe in their eldest bro-
ther s house, but were far from safety, for they
were crushed in the gate; perhaps the door cr
gate of the house was highest built, and fell hea-
viest upon them, and there was none to delivei-
them from perishing in the ruins. This is com-
monly understood of the destruction of the families
of wicked men, by the execution of justice upon
them to oblige them to restore what they have i.l-
gotten. They leave it to their children; but the
descent shall not bar the entry of the rightful i.wn-
ers, who will ci-ush their children, and cast them
by due course of law, (and there shall be none tc
help them,) or perhaps by oppression, Ps. cix. 9,
&c. [2.] His estate was plundered, v. 5. Job's
was so; the hungry robbers, the Sabeans and Chal-
deans, ran aw..y with it, and swallowed it; and this,
says he, I have often observed in others. What
has been got by spoil and rapine, has been lost the
same way. The careful owner hedged it about with
thorns, and then thought it safe; but the fence
proved insignificant against the greediness of the
spoilers, (if hunger will break through stone-walls,
niuch more through thorn-hedges,) and against the
divine curse, which will go through the thorns and
biiers, and burn them together, Isa. xxvii. 4.

6. Although affliction cometh not forth
of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out
of the ground, 7. Yet man is born unto
trouble, as the sparks fly upward. 8. ]
would seek unto God, and unto God
would I commit my cause ; 9. Which
doeth great things and unsearchable; mar-
vellous things without number : 10. AY ho
giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth
waters upon the fields: 11. To set up on
high those that be low; that those which
mourn may be exalted to safety. 1 2. He
disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so
that their hands cannot perform their enter-
prise. 13. He taketh the wise in their own
craftiness ; and the counsel of the froward is
carried headlong. 14. They meet with
darkness in the day-time, and grope in the
noon-day as in the night. 15. But he saveth
the poor from the sword, from their mouth,
and from the hand of the mighty. 1 6. So
the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth
her mouth.

Eliphaz, having touched Job in a very tender
part, in mentioning both the loss of his estate and
the death of his children, as the just punishment of
his sin, that he might not drive him to despair,
here begins to encourage him, and puts him in a
way to make himself easy. Now he very much
changes his voice, (Gal. iv. 20.) and accosts Job
gently, as if he would atone for the hard words he
had given him.

I. He reminds him, that no affliction comes by
chance, nor is to be attributed to second causes. It
doth not come forth of the dust, nor spring out oj
the ground, as the grass doth, v. 6. It doth not
come of course, at certain seasons of the year, as
natural productions do, by a chain of second causes.
The proportion between prosperity and adversity

34

JOB, V.

is iKt so exactly observed by Providence, as thit
between day and night, summer and winter, but
according to the will and counsel of God, when and
as he thinks fit. Some read it, Sm comes not forth
of the dust, nor iniquity out of the ground. It men
be bad, they must not lay the blame upon the soil,
the climate, or the stars, but on themselves. If
thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. We must
not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they are
from (iod, nor our sins to fate, for they are from
ourselves; so that, whatever trouble we are in, we
nmst own that God sends it upon us, and we pro-
cure it to oui-selves; the former is a reason why we
slir uld be very patient, the latter wliy we should
be very penitent, when we are afflicted.

II. He reminds him, that trouble and affliction
are what we have all reason to expect in this world.
Afan is born to trouble; {v. 7. ) not as man, (had he
kept his innocency, he had been born to pleasure,^
l)ut as sinful man, as born of a woman, {ch. xiv. 1.)
who was in the transgression. Man is born in sin,
and thei-efore born to trouble. Even those that are
born to honour and estate, yet are born to trouble
in the flesh. In our fallen state, it is become natural
to us to sin, and the natural consequence of that, is
affliction, Rom. v. 12. There is nothing in this
world we are born to, and can truly call our own,
but sin and trouble; both are as the sparks that fly
upward. Actual transgressions are the sparks that
fly out of the furnace of original corruption; and,
being called transgressors from the womb, no won-
der that we deaCvery treacherously, Isa. xl\iii. 8.
Such too is the frailty of our bodies, and the \ anity
of all our enjoyments, that our troubles also thence
arise as naturally as the sparks fly upward; so
many are they, so thick and so fast does one follow
another. Why then should we be surprised at our
afflictions as strange, or quarrel with them as hard,
when thev are but what we are born to? Man is
born to labour, so it is in the margin, is sentenced
to eat his bread in the sweat of his face, which
should inure him to hardness, and make him bear
his afflictions the better.

III. He directs him how to behave himself under
his affliction; {v. 8.) I would seek unto God; surely
I would: so it is in the original. Here is, 1. A ta-
cit reproof to Job for not seeking to God, but quar-
relling with Him; "Job, if I had been in thy case, I
would not have been so peevish and passionate as
thou art, I would have acquiesced in the will of
God." It is easy to say what we would do, if we
were in such a one's case; but, when it comes to the
trial, perhaps it will be found not so easy to do as
we say. 2. Very good and seasonable advice to
him, which Eliphaz transfers to himself in a figure;
"For mv part, the best way I should think I could
t ike, if I were in thy condition, would be to apply
myself to God." Note, We should give our friends
no otlier counsel than what we would take our-
selves if we were in their case, that we may be easy
under our afflictions, may get good l)y them, and
may see a good issue of them. (1.) ^^'^e must by
prayer fetch in mercy and grace from God; seek
to liim as a Father and Friend, though he contend
with us, as one who is alone able to support and suc-
cour us. His favour we must seek, when we have lost
all we have in tlie world; to him wc must address
ourselves, as the Fountain and Father of all good,
all consolation. Js any afflicted? Let him firay. It
is heart's-ease, a salve for c\ery sore. (2.) We
must by patience refer ourselves and our cause to
him. " 7'o God would I commit my cause: having
spread it before him, I would leave it %vith_him;
having laid it at his feet, I would lodge it in his
hand; Here I am, let the Lord do with me as scemeth
him good." If our cause i)e indeed a good cause,
we need not fear committing it to God, for he is

both just and kind. They that would seek so as to
speed, must refer themselves to God.

IV. He encourages him thus to seek to God, and
commit his cause to him. It will not be in vain to
do so, for he is one in whom we shall find eff"ectual
help. He recommends to his consideration Gad's,
almighty power and sovereign dominion.

1. In general, he doeth great tilings; {v. 9.) great
indeed, for he can do any thing; he doth do every
thing; and all according to the counsel of his own
will: great indeed, for the operations of his power
are, (1.) Unsearchable, and such as can never be
fathomed, can never be found out /row the begin-
ning to the end, Eccl. iii. 11. The works of nitui-e
are mysteries; the most curious searches come fa-
short of full discoveries, and the wisest philosophers
have owned themselves at a loss. The designs of
Providence are much more deep and unaccountable,
Rom. xi. 33. (2.) Numerous, and such as never
can be reckoned up. He doeth great things without
number; his power is never exhausted, nor will all
his purposes ever be fulfilled till the end of time.
(3.) They are marvellous, and such as never can be
sufficiently admired; eternity itself will be short
enough to be spent in the admiration of them. Now,
by the consideration of this, Eliphaz intends, [1.]
To convince Job of his fault and folly in quarrelling
with God. We must not pretend to pass a judgment
upon his works, for they are unsearchable and above
our inquiries; nor must we strive with our Maker,
for he will certainly be too hard for us, and is able
to crush us in a moment. [2.] To encourage Job
to seek unto God, and to refer himself to him
What more encouraging than to see that he is one
to whom power belongs ? He can do great things
and marvellous for our relief, when we are brought
ever so low.

2. He gives some instances of God's dominion
and power.

(1.) God doeth great things in the kingdom of na-
ture: he gii'es rain upon the earth, {t.i. 10.) put
here for all the gifts of common providence, all the
fruitful seasons, by which hefilleth our hearts with
food and gladness. Acts xi\'. 17. Observe, When
he would show what great things God doeth, he
speaks of his giving rain, which, because it is a
common thing, we are apt to look upon as a little
thing; but if we duly consider both how it is pro-
duced, and what is produced by it, we shall see it
to be a great work, both of power and goodness.

(2.) He doeth great things in the affairs of the
children of men: not only enriches the poor, and
comforts the needy, by the rain he sends, {v. 10. )
but, in order to the advancing of those that are low,
he disa/ifioints the devices of the crafty; for -i>. 11.
is to be joined to v. 12. and compared with Luke
i. 51 . . 53. He hath scattered the firoud in the ima-
gination of their hearts, and so hath exalted them
of low degree, and filled the hungry with good
things.

See, [1.] How he frustrates the counsels oi the
firoud and politic, x>. 12' •14. There is a supreme
power that mnnages and overrules men who think
themselves free and absolute, and fulfils its own
purposes in despite of their projects. Observe,
First, The froward, that walk contrary to God and
the interest of his kingdom, are often very crafty,
for thev are the seed of the old serpent, that was
noted for subtilty. They think themselves wise,
but, at the end, will be fools. Secondly, The fro-
ward enemies of God's kingdom have their devices,
their enterprises, and their counsels, against it, and
against the loval faithful subjects of it. They are
restless and unwearied in their designs, close in
their consultations, high in their hopes, deep in thei-
l^olitics, and fast linked in their confederacies, Ps,
ii. 1, 2. Thirdly, God easily can, and (as far as is

JOB, V.

35

fir his glory) certainly will, blast and defeat all the
designs of his and his people's enemies. How were
the plots of Ahithophel, Sanballat, and Haman,
baffled! The confederates of Syria and Ephraim
against Judah, of Gebal, and Amnion, and Anialek,
against Clod's Israel, the kings of the earth, and the
princes, against the Lord and against his anointed,
broken! Tlie hands tliat have been stretched out
against God, and his church, have not performed
their ^terprise, nor have the weapons fomied
against Zion prospered. Fourthly, That which
enemies liave designed for the ruin of the churcli,
has often turned to their own ruin; {v. 13.) He
takes the nvise in their own craftiness, and snares
them in the work of their own hands, Ps. \ii. 15,
16. — ix. 15, 16. This is quoted by the apostle, ( 1
Cor. iii. 19.) to show how the learned men of the
heathen were liefooled by their own vain philoso-
phy. Fifthly, When God infatuates men, they are
perplexed, :md :.t a loss, even in those things that
seem most plain and easy; {xk 14.) They meet with
darkness even in the day-time; nay, as it is in the
margin. They run themselves into darkness by the
violence and precipitation of their own counsels.
See ch. xii. 20, 24, 25.

[2.] Hnw he favours the cause of the poor and
humble, and espouses that.

First, He exnlts the humble, T'. 11. Those whom
proud men contrive to crush, he raises from under
their feet, and sets them in safety, Ps. xii. 5. The
lowlv in heart, and those that mourn, he advances,
comforts, and makes to dwell on high, in the muni-
tions of rocks, Isa. xxxiii. 16. Zion's mourners are
the sealed ones, marked for safety, Ezek. ix. 4.

Secondly, He delivers the oppressed, v. 15. The
designs of the crafty are to ruin the poor: tongue,
and hand, and sword, and all, are at work in order
to this; but God takes under his special protection
those who, being poor, and unable to help them-
selves, being his poor, and devoted to his prnise,
have committed themselves to him. He saves them
from the mouth that speaks hard things against
them, and the hand that does hard things against
them; for he can, when he pleases, tie the tongue,
and wither the hand.

The effect of this is, (x'. 16.) 1. That weak and
timorous saints "re comtorted: so the fioor, that be-
gan to despair, has hofie. The experiences rf some
are encnarn elements to others to hope the best in
the worst of times; f ->r it is the glory of God to send
help to the helpless, and hnpe to the hopeless. 2.
That daring threatening sinners are confounded; ini-
quitv stops hermouth, being surprised at the strange-
ness of the deliverance, ashamed of its enmity against
those who appear to be the favourites of Heaven,
mortified at the disappointment, and compelled to
acknowledge the justice of God's proceedings, hav-
ing nothing to object against them. Those that domi-
neered over God's poor, that frightened them, me-
naced them, and falsely accused them, will not have
a word to sav against them when God appears for
them. See IPs. Ixxvi. 8, 9. Isa. xxvi. 11. Mic.
vii. 16.

1 7. Behold, happy is the man whom God
correcteth ; therefore despise not thou the
chastening of the Almighty: , 18. For he
maketh sore, and bindeth up ; he woundeth,
and his hands make whole. 19. He shall
deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven
there shall no evil touch thee. 20, In famine
he shall redeem thee from death ; and in
war from the power of the sword. 21. Thou
shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue ;

neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction
when it cometh. 22. At destruction and
famine thou shalt laugh : neither shalt thou
be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 23. Foi
thou shalt be in league with the stones of
the field ; and the beasts of the field sh;dl
be at peace with thee. 24. And thou shnlt
know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace ;
and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shall
not sin. 25. Thou shalt know also that thy
seed shall be great, and thine offspring as
the grass of the earth. 26. Thou shalt come
to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of
corn cometh in in his season. 27. Lo this,
we have searched it, so \iis; hear it, ancl
know thou it for thy good.

Eliphaz, in this concluding paragraph of his dis-
course, gives Job (what he himself knew not how to
take) a comfortable prospect of the issue of his af-
flictions, if he did but recover his temper, and ac-
commodate himself to them.

Observe,

I. The seasonable word of caution and exhorta-
tion that he gives him; {v. 17.) " Desfiise not thou
the chastening of the jilmighty. Call it a chastening,
which comes from the father's love, and is designed
for the child's good. Call it the chastening of the
Almighty, with whom it is madness to contend, to
whom it is wisdom and duty to submit, and who
will be a God all-sufiicient" (for so the word signi-
fies) " to all those that trust in him. Do not despise
it;" it is a copious word in the original. 1. "Be not
averse to it. Let grace conquer the antipathy
which nature has to suffering, and reconcile thyself
to the will of God in it." We need the rod. and we
deserve it; and therefore we ought not to think it
either strange or hard if we feel the smart of it.
Let not the heart rise against a bitter pill or potion,
when it is prescribed us for our good. 2. " Do not
th'nk ill of it, do not put it from thee, (as that
which is either hurtful, or, at least, not useful,
which there is no occasion for, nor advantage by,)
only because, for the present, it is not joyous, but
grievous." \\'e must never scorn to stoop to Gcd,
nor think it a thing below us to come under his dis-
cipline, but reckon, on the contrary, that God really
magnifies man, when he thus visits and tries him,
ch. vii. 17, 18. 3. " Do not overlook and disregard
it, as if it were only a chance, and the production of
second causes, but take great notice of it as tlie
voice of God, and a messenger from Heaven."
More is implied than is expressed: " Feverence
the chastening of the Lord; have an humble, awful,
regard to his correcting hand, and tremble when
the lion roars, Amos iii. 8. Submit to the chasten-
ing, and study to answer the call, to answer the end
of it, and then thou reverencest it. " When God,
by an affliction, draws upon us for some of the ef-
fects he has intrusted us with, we must honour his
bill by accepting it, and subscribing it, resigning him
his own when he calls for it.

II. The comfortable words of encouragement
which he gives him, thus to accommodate himself
to his condition, and (as he himself had expressed
it) to receive evil from the hand of God, and nrt
despise it as a gift not worth the accepting. If his
affliction was thus borne,

1. The nature and property of it would be alter-
ed: though it looked like a man's misery, it would
really be his bliss. Hafipy is the man whom God
correcteth, if he make but a due improvement of
the correction. A good man is happy, though he

JOB, V.

be afflicted; for, whatever he has lost, he has not
lost his enjoyment of God, nor his title to heaven j
nay, he is happy, because he is afflicted; correction
is an evidence of his sonship, and a means of his
sanctification; it mortifies his corruptions, weans his
heart from the world, draws him nearer to God,
brings him to his Bible, brings him to his knees,
works him for, and so is working tor him, a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; Hafi-
//(/ therefore is [he man luhom God correcteth. Jam.
i.'l2.

2. The issue and consequence of it would be very
good, V. 18. (1.) Though he makes sore the body
with sore boils, the mind with sad thoughts, yet he
binds up at the same time; as the skilful tender
surgeon binds up the wounds he had occasion to
make with his incision-knife. When God makes
sores by the rebukes of his providence, he binds up
by the consolations of his Spirit, which oftentimes
abound, as most afflictions do abound, and balance
them, to the unspeakable satisfaction of the patient
sufferers. (2.) Though he wounds, yet his hands
make whole in due time: as he supports his people,
and makes them easy under their afflictions, so in
due time he delivers' them, and makes a way for
them to escape. All is well again; and he comforts
tliem according to the time wherein he afflicted
them. God's usual method is first to wound, and
then to heal, first to convince, and then to comfort,
first to humble, and then to exalt; and (as Mr.
Caryl observes) he never makes a wound too great,
too deep, for his own cure. Una eadevique manus
vulnus ofiemque tulit — The hand that injiicts the
wound, afifxlies the cure. God tears the wicked,
and goes away, let them heal that will, if they can;
(Hos. v. 14.) but the humble and penitent may say.
He has torn, and he will heal us, Hos. vi. 1.

.This is general; but in the following verses he
applies himself directly to Job, and gives him many
precious promises of great and kind things which
God would do for him, if he did but humble him-
self under' his hand. I'hough then they had no Bi-
bles that we know of, yet Eliphaz had sufficient
warrant to give Job these assurances, from the
general discoveries God had made of his good will
to his people. And though, in every thing which
Job's friends said, they were not directed by the
Spirit of God, (for they spake both of God and Job
some things that were not right,) yet the general
doctrines they laid down spake tlie pious sense of
the patriarchal age; and as St Paul quoted, v. 13.
for canonical scripture, and as the command, v. 17.
is, no doubt, bindmg on us, so these promises here
may be, and must be, received and applied as di-
vine promises, and we may, through patience and
comfort of this part of scrifiture, have hofie.

Let us therefore give diligence to make sure our
interest in these promises, and then view the par-
ticulars of them, and take the comfort of them.

[1.] It is here promised, that as afflictions and
troubles do recur, supfiorts and deliverances shall
be graciously repeated, be it never so often. In six
troubles, he shall be ready to delin'er thee; yea, and
in sexien. This intimates, thiit, as long as we are
here in this world, we must expect a succession of
troubles, that the clouds will return after the rain;
after six troubles mav come a seventh. After
many, look for more; f)ut out of them all will God
deliver those that are his. 2 Tim. iii. 11. Ps.
xxxiv. 19. Former deliverances are earnests of,
not, as among men, excuses from, further deliver-
ances, Prov. xix. 19.

[2.] That, whatever troubles good men may be
in, there shall no evil touch them, they shall do
?hem no real harm; the malignity of them, the
sting, shall be taken out; they may hiss, they can-
not "hurt, Ps, xci. 10. The evil one toucheth not

God's children, 1 John v. 18. Being kept from sin,
they are kept from the evil of every trouble.

[3. ] That, when desolating judgments are abroad,
they shall be taken under special protection, v, 20.
Do many perish about them, for want of the neces-
sarj" supports of hfe ? They shall be supplied. " In
famine he shall redeem thee from deaih: whate\ er
becomes of others, thou shalt be kept alive, Ps.
xxxiii. 19. Verily thou shalt be fed, nay, e\ en m
the days of famine thou shalt be satisfi^, Ps.
xxxvii. 3, 19. In tin»e of war, when thousands fall
on thy right and left hand, he shall redeem thee
from the power of the sword. If God pleases, it
shall not touch thee; or, if it wound thee, if it kill
thee, it shall not hurt thee; it can byit kill the body,
nor has it power to do that, unless it be given from
above. "

[4.] That whatever is maliciously said against
the?n, it shall not affect them, to do them any hurt,
V. 21. "Thou shalt not only be protected fron. the
killing sword of war, but shalt be hid from the
scourge of the tongue, which, like a scourge, is
vexing and painful, though not mortal." The l)est
men, and the most inoffensive, cannot, even with
their innocency, secure themselves from calumny,
reproach, and false accusation. From these a man
cannot hide himself, but God can hide him, so that
the most malicious slanders shall be so little heeded
by him, as not to disturb his peace; and so little
heeded by others, as not to blemish his reputation:
and the remainder of his wrath God can and does
restrain, for it is owing to the hold he has of the
consciences of bad men, that the scourge of the
tongue is not the ruin of all the comforts of good
men in this world.

[5.] That they shall have a holy security and
serenity of mind, arising from their hope and confi
dence in God, even in the worst of times. When
dangers are most threatening, they shall be easy,
believing themselves safe; and shall not be afraid
of destiniction, no, not when they see it coming,
{y. 21.) nor the beasts of the field, when they set
upon them, nor of men as cruel as beasts; nay, at
destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, {v. 22.)
not so as to despise any of God's chastenings, or make
a jest of his judgments, but so as to triumph in (iod,
and his power and goodness, and therein to triumph
over the world and all its grievances; to be not only
easy, but cheerful and joyful, in tribulation. Bless-
ed Paul laughed at destruction, when he said, O
death, where is thy sting? When, in the name of
all the saints, he defied all the calamities of this
present time to separate from the love of God, con-
cluding. In all these tHings we are more than con-
querors, Rom. viii. 37, &c. See Isa. xxxvii. 22.

[6.] That, being at peace with God, there shall
be a covenant of friendship between them and the
whole creation', v. 23. '* When thou walkest thy
grounds, thou shalt not need to fear stumbling, for
thou shalt be at league with the stones of the field,
not to dash thy foot against any of them; nor shalt
thou be in danger from the beasts of the field, for
they all shall be ^kI peace with thee;^ compa-e Hos.
ii. 18, / will make a covenant for them with the
beasts of the field. This implies, that while man
is at enmity with his Maker, the inferior creatures
are at war with him; but Tranquillus Deus tran-
quillat omnia — A recoriciled God reconciles all
things. Our covenant with God is a covenant with
all tVie creatures, that they shali do us no hurt, but
be ready to serve us, and do us good.

[7.] That their houses and families shall be com-
fortable to them, V. 24. Peace and piety in the
family will make it so. " Thou shalt know and be
assured that thy tabernacle is, and shall be, in
peace; thou may est be confident both of its j^resent
and its future prosperity." That peace is thy ta

JOB, VI.

bernacle, so the word is. Peace is the house in which
they dwell, who dwell in God, and are at home in
him; " Thou shalt visit," that is, " inquire into, the
affairs of thy habitation, and take a review of them,
and shalt not sin." First, God will provide a set-
tlement for his people, mean, perhaps, and movea-
ble, a cottage, a tabernacle, but a fixed and quiet
habitation. " Thou slmlt not sin," or wander, that
is, as some understand it, " thou shalt not be a fugi-
tive and a vagabond," (Cain's curse,) "but shalt
dwell m the land, and verily, not uncertainly as
vagrants, shalt thou be fed." Secondly, Their
families shall be taken under the special protection
of the Divine Providence, and shall prosper as far
as is for their good. Thirdly, They shall be assured
of peace, and of the continuance and entail of it;
" 1 hou shalt know, to thine unspeakable satisfac-
tion, that peace is sure to thee and tliine, having
the word of God for it." Providence may change,
but the promise cannot. Fourthly, They shall have
wisdom to govern their families aright, to order
their affairs with discretion, and to look well to the
ways of their household, which is here called visit-
ing their habitation; masters of families must not
be strangers at home, but have a watchful eye over
what they have, and what their servants do. Fifth-
ly, Thev shall have grace to manage the concerns
of their families after a godly sort, and not to sin in
the management of them. They shall call their
servants to account without passion, pride, covet-
ousness, worldliness, or the like; they shall look
into their affairs without discontent at what is, or
distrust of what shall be. Family piety crowns
family peace and prosperity. The greatest bless-
ing, both in our employments, and in our enjoy-
ments, is, to be kept from sin in them. When we
are abroad, it is comfortable to hear that our taber-
nacle is in peace; and when we return home to visit
our habitation, with satisfaction in our success, that
we have not failed in our business, and with a good
conscience, that we have not offended God.

[8.] That their posterity should be numerous and
prosperous. Job had lost all his children; •' But,"
says Eliphaz, •* if thou return to God, he will again
build up thy family, and thy seed shall be many,
and as great as ever, and thine offspring increasing
and flourishing as the grass of the earth," (v. 25.)
'•and thou shalt know it." God has blessings in
store for the seed of the faithful, which they shall
have, if they do not stand in their own light, and
forfeit them by their folly. It is a comfort to pa-
rents to see the prosperity, especially the spiritual
prosperity, of their children; if they are truly good,
they are truly great, how small a figure soever they
make in the world.

[9.] That their death shall be seasonable, and
they shall finish their course, at length, with Joy and
honour, v. 26. It is a great mercy, First, To live
to a full age, and not to have the number of our
months cut off in the midsL If the providence of
G id do not gi\'e us long life, if the grace of God
give us to be satisfied with the time allotted us, we
may be said to come to a full age. That man lives
long enough that has done his work, and is fit for
another world. Secondly, To be willing to die, to
come cheerfully to the grave, and not to be forced
thither, as he whose soul was required of him.
Thirdly, To die seasonably, as the corn is cut and
housed when it is full ripe; not till then, but then
not suffered to stand a day longer, lest it shed.
Our times are in God's hand; it is well they are so,
for he will take care that those who are his die in
the best time: however their death may seem to us
untimely, it will be found not unseasonable.

In the last verse, he recommends those promises
to Job, 1. As faithful sayings, which he might be
confident of the truth of: " Lo, this ive have search-

ed, and so it is. We have indeed received thest-
things by tradition from our fathers, but we h ,ve
not taken them upon trust, we have carefully
searched them, ha\e compared spiritual tilings
with spiritual, have diligently studied them, ami
been confirmed in our belief of them, from our own
observation and experience; and we are all of a mind
that so it is." Truth is a treasure that is well wortli
digging for, diving for; and then we shall know both
how to value it ourselves, and how to communicate
it to others, when we have taken pains in searc hing
for it. 2. As well worthy of all acceptation, which
he might improve to his great advantage! " Hear
it, and know thou it for thy good." It is not enough
to hear and know the truth, but we must imjirove
it, and be made wiser and better by it, recei\ e the
impiessions of it, and submit to the commanding
power of it. Know it for thyself, so the word is;
with application to thyself, and thy own case; not
only This is true, but This is true concerning me.
That which we thus hear and know for ourselves,
we hear and know for our good, as we are nourished
by the meat which we digest. That is, indeed, a
good sermon, which does us good.

CHAP. VI.

Eliphaz concluded his discourse with an air of assurance;
very confident he was that what he had said was so plain
and so pertinent, that nothing could be objected in answer
to it. But though he that is first in his own cause, seems
just, yet his neighbour comes and searches him. Job is
not convinced by all he had said, but still justifies him-
self in his complaints, and condemns him for the weak-
ness of his arguing. I. He shows that he had just cause
to complain as he did of his troubles, and so it would
appear to any impartial judge, v. 2. .7. II. He coiilinues
his passionate wish, that he might speedily be cut offbv
the stroke of death, and so be eased of all his miseries,
V. 8. .13. HI. He reproves his friends for their uncha-
ritable censures of him, and their unkind treatment,
V. 14 . . 30. It must be owned that Job, in all this, spake
much that was reasonable, but with a mixture of passion
and human infirmity. And in this contest, as indeed in
most contests, there was fault on both sides.

1. TJ UT Job answered and said, 2. Oii
JLi that nfiy grief were thoroughly w eigh-
ed, and my calamity laid in the balances
together! 3. For now it would be heavier
than the sand of the sea: therefore my
words are swallowed up. 4. For the ar-
rows of the Almighty are within me, the
poison whereof drinketh up my spirit : the
terrors of God do set themselves in array
against me. 5. Doth the wild ass bray
when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over
his fodder ? 6. Can that which is unsavou-
ry be eaten without salt? or is there 0771/
taste in the white of an egg ? 7. The things
that my soul refused to touch are as my
sorrowful meat.

Eliphaz, in the beginning of his discourse, had
been very sharp upon Job, and yet it does not ap-
pear that Job gave him any interruption, but heard
him patiently, till he had said all he had to say.-
they that would make an impartial judgment of a
discourse, must hear it out, and take it entire. But
when he had concluded, he makes his reply, in
which he speaks very feelingly.

I. He represents his calamity, in general, as
much heavier than either he had expressed it, or
they had apprehended it, v. 2, 3. He could not
fully describe it, they would not fully apprehend it,
or, at least, not own that they did; and therefore he

38

JOB, VI.

would gladly appeal to a third person, who had just
weights and just balances with which to weigh his
grief and calamity, and would do it with an impar-
tial hand; he wished that they would set his grief
in one scale, and all the expressions of it; his ca-
lamity in the other, and all the particulars of it;
and (though he would not altogether justify him-
self in his grief, yet) they would find (as he says,
ch. xxiii. 2.) that his stroke was heavier than his
groaning; for, whatever his grief was, his calamity
was heavier than the sand of the sea; it was compli-
cated, it was aggravated, every grievance weighty,
and all together numerous as the sand: Therefore
(says he) my words are swallowed ufi; that is,
'' Therefore you must excuse both the brokenness
and the bitterness of my expressions; do not think
it strange if my speech be not so fine and polite as
that of an eloquent orator, or so grave and regular
as that of a morose philosopher: no, in these cir-
cumstances I can pretend neither to the one nor to
the other; my words are, as I am, quite swallowed
ap."

Now, 1. He hereby complains of it as his un-
happiness, that his friends undertook to administer
spiritual physic to him, before they thoroughly un-
derstood his case, and knew the worst of it. It is
seldom that those who are at ease themselves,
rightly weigh the afflictions of the afflicted; every
one feels most from his own burthen, few feel from
otlier people's. 2. He excuses the jjassionate ex-
pressions he had used when he cursed his day.
Though he could not himself justify all he had said,
yet he thought his friends should not tlius violently
condemn it, for really the case was extraordinary ;
and that n>ight be connived at in such a man of
sorrows as he now was, which, in any common
grief, would by no means be allowed of. 3. He be-
speaks the ch iritable and compassionate sympathy
of his friends with him, and hopes, by representing
the greatness of his calamity, to bring them to a
Ijetter temper toward him. To those that are pain-
ed, it is some ease to be pitied.

II. He complains of the trouble and terror of
mind he was in, as the sorest part of his calamity,
V. 4. Herein he was a type of Christ, who, in his
suflFerings, complained most of the sufferings of his
soul; A''ow is my soul troubled, John xii. 27. My
wul is exceeding sorrowful, Matth. xxvi. 37, 38.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?
Matth. xxvii. 46. Poor Job sadly complains here,
1. Of what he felt: The arrows of the Almighty
arc within me. It was not so mucli the troubles
themselves he was under that put him into tliis
confusion, his poverty, disgrace,. and bodily pain;
that which cut him to the heart, and put him into
this agitation, was, to think that the Ciod he lov-
ed, and served, had brought all this upon him,
and laid liim undei' these marks of his displea-
sure. Note, Trouble of mind is the sorest trou-
ble: a wounded s/iirit who can bear? Whatever
burthen of affliction, in body or estate, God is
pleased to lay upon us, we may well afford to sub-
mit to it as long as he continues to us the use of our
reason, and the peace of our consciences; but if, in
either of these, we be disturbed, our case is sad in-
deed, and very pitiable. The way to prevent God's
fiery darts of trouble, is, with the shield of faith,
to quench Satan's fiery darts of temptation. Ob-
serve, He calls them the ay-rows of the Almighty;
for it is an instance of the power of God abfive that
of any man, that lie can with his arrows reach the
soul. He that made it can make his sword to ap-
proach to it. The poison or heat of these arrows
is said to drink uj) his spirit, because it disturbed
his reason, shook his resohition, exhausted his
vigour, and threatened his life; and therefore his
passionate expressions, though they could not be [

justified, yet might be excused. 2. Of what he
feared. He saw himself charged by the terrors of
God, as by an army set in balde-array, and sur-
rounded by them. God, by his terrors, fought
against him: as he had no comfort when he retired
inward into his own bosom, so he had none when he
looked upward toward Heaven. He that used to
be encouraged with the consolations of God, not
only wanted those, but was amazed with the terrors
of God.

III. He reflects upon his friends for their severe
censures of his complaints, and their unskilful ma-
nagement of his case. 1. Their reproofs were
causeless. He complained, it is true, now that he
was in this affliction, but he never used to complain,
as those do who are of a fretful unquiet spirit, when
he was hi prosperity: he did not bray when he had
grass, nor low over his fodder, v. 5. But now, that
he was utterly deprived of all his comforts, he must
be a stock or a stone, and not have the sense of an
ox or a wild ass, if he did not give some vent to his
grief. He was forced to eat unsavoury meats, and
was so poor, that he had not a grain of salt, where-
with to relish them, nor to give a little taste to the
white of an egg, which was now the choicest dish
he had at his table, v. 6. Even that food which once
he would have scorned to touch, now he was glad
of, and it was his sorrowful meat, v. 7. Note, It
is wisdom not to use ourselves or our children to be
nice and dainty about meat and drink, because we
know not how we or they may be reduced, nor how
that which we now disdain may be made acceptable
by necessity. 2. Their comforts were sapless
and insipid; so some understand, v. 6, 7. He com-
plains he had nothing now offered him for his re-
lief, that was proper for him ; no cordial, nothing to
revive and cheer his spirits; what they had afford-
ed, was in itself as tasteless as the white of an egg,
and, when applied to him, as loathsome and bur-
thensome as the most sorrowful meat. I am sorry
he should say thus of what Eliphaz had excellently
well said, ch. v. 8, &c. But pee\ ish spirits are too
apt thus to abuse their comforters.

8. Oh that I might have my request; and
that God would grant yne the ihing that T
long for; 9. Even that it would please God
to destroy me ; that he would let loose his
hand, and cut me off! 10. Then should 1
yet have comfort; yea, I would harden
myself in sorrow : let h'uw not spare ; for I
have not concealed the words of the Holy
One. 11. What is my strength, thai I
should hope? and what is mine end, that I
should prolong my life ? 12. Is my strength
the strength of stones ? or is my flesh of
brass ? 1 .3. Is not my help in me ? and is
wisdom driven quite fiom me ?'

Ungoverned passion often grows more violent
when it meets with some rebuke and check: the
troubled sea rages most when it dashes against a
rock. Job had been courting death, as that which
would be tlie h;.])py period of his miseries, ch. iii.
For this, Elij)haz had gravely reproved him: but
he, instead of unsaying it, says it here again with
more vehemence than before; it is as ill said as al-
most anv thing we meet with in all his discourses,
and is recorded for our admonition, not our imi-
tation.

I. He is still most passionately desirous to die, as
if it were not jiossiljle that he should ever see good
davs again in this world, or that, by the exercise of

JOB, VI.

39

grace and devotion, he might make even tliese days
of affliction ,y;o()d days: he could see no end of his
trouble but deiitii, and had not p.^tience to wait the
time appointed for tliat. He has a request to make,
tliere is a thing lie longs for: {v. 8.) and what is
that? One would think it should be, '/Viut it would
fileane God to deliver me, and restore me to my
prosperity again; no, That it would Jilease God to
destroy me, v. 9. "As once he let loose his hand
to make nie poor, and then to make me sick, let
him loose it once more to put an end to my life.
Let him give the fatal stroke; it shall be to me the
coufi de ifruce — l/ie stroke of favour," as, in France,
they call the last blow which despatches them that
are broken on the wheel. There was a time when
destruction from the Almighty ivas a terror to Job;
(ch. xxxi. 23. ) yet now he courts the destruction of
the flesh, but in hopes that the spirit should be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Observe, Though Job was extremely desirous of
death, and very angry at its delays, yet lie did not
offer to destrciy himself, nor to take away his own
life; only he begged that it would filease God to
destroy him. Seneca's morals, which recommend
self-murder as the lawful redress of insupportal)le
grievances, were not then known, nor will ever be
entertained by any that have the least regard to
the law of God and nature. How uneasy soe\er
the soul's confinement in the body may be, it must
by no means break prison, but wait for a fair dis-
charge.

II. He puts this desiix into a prayer, that God
would grant him this request, that it would please
God to do this for him. It was his sin, so passion-
ately to desire the hastening of his own death, and
offering up that desire to God made it no better;
nay, what looked ill in his wish, looked worse in his
prayer; for we ought not to ask any thing of God
but wliat we can ask in faith, and we cannot ask
any thing in faith, but what is agreeable to the will
of God. Passionate prayers are the worst of pas-
sionate expressions; for we should lift up pure
hands without wrath.

III. He promises himself effectual relief, and tlie
redress of all his grievances, by the stroke of death;
{v. 10.) " Then should I yet have con fort, wliich
now I have not, nor ever expect till then." See,
1. The vanity of human life; so uncertain a good
is it, that it often proves men's greatest burthen,
and nothing is so desirable as to get clear of it.
Let grace make us willing to part with it, when-
ever God calls; for it may so happen, that even
sense may make us desirous to pai't with it before
he calls. 2. The hope which the righteous have
in their death. If Job had not had a good con-
science, he could not have spoken with this assu-
rance of comfort on the other side death, that circum-
stance which made all the difference between the
rich man and Lazarus; Jfonv he is comforted, and
thou art tormented.

IV. He challenges death to do its worst. If he
coul-d not die without the dreadful prefaces of bitter
pains and agonies, and strong convulsions; if he
must be racked before he be executed, yet, in
prospect of dying at last, he would make nothing of
dying pangs. " I would harden myself in sorrow,
would open my breast to receive deatli's darts, and
not shrink from them; let him not spare; I desire
no mitigation of that pain which will put a happy
period to all my pains. Rather than not die, let
me die so as to feel myself die." These are pas-
sionate words, which might better have been
spared. We should soften ourselves in sorrow,
that we may receive the good impressions of it,
and, by the sadness of the countenance, our liearts,
being made tender, may be made better; but, if we
harden ourselves, we urovoke God to proceed in

his controversy; /or when he judgeth, he will over-
come. It is great presnm])i;on to dare tlie Al-
mighty, c nd to say. Let him not spare: foi-, ^dre we
stronger than iie'^ 1 Cor. x. 22. We are much
indebted to sparing mercy; it is bad indeed with us
when we are weary of that. Let us rather say,
with David, O spare me a little.

V. He grounds his comfoitupon the testimony
of his cijuscience for him, that he had been faithful
and firm to his profession of religion, and in some
degrees useful and sei-\ iceable to the glory of God
in his generation; I have not concealed the words of
the Holy One. Observ e, 1. Jolj had the words of
the Holy One committed to him. The people of
G()d were, at tliat time, blessed with divine reve-
lation. 2. It was his comfort, that he had not con-
cealed them, had not recei\ed the grace of God
therein in vain. (1.) He had not kept them from
himself, but had given them full scope to operate
upon him, and in every thing to guide and govern
him. He had not stifled his convictions, imprisonea
the truth in unrighteousness, nor done any thing to
hinder the digestion of this spiritual food, and the
operation of this spiritual physic. Let us never
conceal God's word from ourselv es, but always re-
ceive it in the light of it. (2.) He had not kept
them to himself, but had been ready, on all occa-
sions, to communicate his knowledge for the good
of others; was never ashamed or afraid to own the
word of God to be his rule, nor remiss in his en-
deaxours to bring others into an acquaintance with
it. Note,- Those, and those only, may promise
themseh es comfort in death, who are good, and do
good, while they live.

VI. He justifies himself in this extreme desire of
death, from the deplorable condition he was now
in, V. 11, 12. Eliphaz, in the close of his dis-
course, had put him in hopes that he should yet see
a good issue of his troubles; but poor Job puts these
cordials away from him, refuses to be comforted,
aljandons himself to despair, and very ingeniously,
yet perversely, argues against the encouragements
that were gi\ en him. Disconsolate spirits will rea-
son strangely against themselves. In answer to the
pleasing prospects Eliphaz had flattered him with,
he here intimates, 1. That he had no reason to ex-
pect any such thing: " What is my strength, that
I should hope? You see how I am weakened and
brought low, how unable I am to grapple with my
distempers; and therefore what re son have I to
hope that I should outlive them, and see better
days ? Is my strength the stre7igth of stones? Are
my muscles brass, and sinews steel? No, they are
not, and therefore I cannot hold out always in this
pain and misery, but must needs sink under the
load. Had I strength to grapple with my dis-
temper, I might hope to look through it; but, alas!
I have not;" the weakening of my strength in the
way will certainly be the shortening of my days,
Ps. cii. 23. Note, All things considered, we have
no reason to count upon the long continuance of life
in this world. What is our strength ? It is de-
pending strength; we have no more strength than
God gives us, for in him we live and mme: it is
decaying strength; we are daily spending the stock,
and by degrees it will be exhausted. It is dispro-
portionable to the encounters we may meet with;
what is our strength to be depended upon, when
two or three days' sickness will make us weak as
water? Instead of expecting a long life, we have
reason to wonder that we have lived hitherto, and
to feel that we are hastening off apace. 2. l^hat
he had no reason to desire any such thing; " W/^at
is my end, that I should desire to prolong my life?
What comfort can I promise myself in life, com-
parable to the comfort I promise myself in death?''
Note, Those who, through grace, are ready for an

40

JOB, VI.

other world, cannot see much to invite their stay in
this world, or to make them fond of it. That, if it
be God's will, we may do him more service, and
may get to be fitter and ripe f<^r heaven, is an end
for which we may wish the prolonging of life, in
subserviency to our chief end; but, otherwise, what
can we propose to oui'selves in desiring to tarry
here ? The longer life is, the more grievous will
its burthens be, (Eccl. xii. 1.) and the longer life
is, the less pleasant will be its delights, 2 Sam. xix.
34, 35. We have already seen the best of this
world, but we are not sure that we have seen the
worst of it.

VII. He obviates the suspicion of his being deli-
rious; {v. 13.) Is not my help in me'/ that is,
" Have I not the use of my reason, with which,
I thank God, I can help myself, though you do not
help me.'' Do you think wisdom is driven quite
from me, and that I am gone distracted ? No, I
am not mad, most noble Eliphaz, but sfieak the
words of truth and soberness" Note, Those who
have grace in them, who have the evidence of it,
and have it in exei-cise, have wisdom in them,
which will be their help in the worst of times.
Sat lucis intus — They have light within.

1 4. To him that is afflicted pity should
be showed from his friend; but he forsaketh
the fear of the Ahiiighty. 1 5. My brethren
have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as
the stream of brooks they pass away; 16.
VVhich are blackish by reason of the ice,
awe/ wherein the snow is hid: 17. What
time they wax warm they vanish: when it
is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18. The paths of their way are turned
aside; they go to nothing, and perish. 19.
The troops of Tenia looked, the companies
of Sheba waited for them. 20. They were
confounded because they had hoped ; they
came thither, and were ashamed. 21. For
now ye are nothing; ye see my casting
down, and are afraid.

Eliphaz had been very severe in his censures of
Job; and his companions, though as yet they had
said little, yet had intimated their concurrence
with him: their unkindness therein poor Job here
complains of, as an aggravation of his calamity,
and a further excuse of his desire to die; for what
satisfaction could he ever expect in this world,
when those that should be his comfortei-s, thus
proved his tormentors .'

I. He shows what reason he had to expect kii-.d-
ness from them. His expectation was grounded
upon the common ])rinciples of humanity; {v. 14.)
" To him that is afflicted, and that is wasting and
melting under his affliction, pity should be showed
from his friend; and he that does not show that
pity, forsakes the fear of the jilmighty." Note, 1.
Com])assion is a debt owing to those that are in
affliction. The least which those that are at ease
can do for those that are pained and in anguish, is,
to pity them, to manifest tlie sincerity of a tender
concern for them, and to sympathize with them;
to take cognizance of their case, inquire into their
grievances, hear their complaints, and mingle
tears with theirs; to comfort them, and do all we
can to help and relieve them: this well becomes
the members of the same body, who should feel
for the grievances of their fellow-members, not
knowing how soon the same may be their own. 2.
Inhumanity is impiety and ifreligion. He that

withholds compassion from his friend, forsakes .the
fear of the Almighty. So the Chaldee. How
dwells the love of God in that man ? 1 John iii. 17.
Surely those have no fear of the rod of God upon
themselves, who have no compassion for those that
feel the smart of it. See Jam. i. 27. 3. Troubles
are the trials of friendship. When a man is afflict-
ed, he will see who are his friends indeed, and who
are but pretenders; for a brother is bom for adver-
sity, Prov. xvii. 17. — xviii. 24.

II. He shows how wretchedly he was disappoint-
ed in his expectations from them; (t^. 15.) " iVf v
brethren, who should have helped me, have dealt
deceitfully as a brook. " They came by appoint-
ment, with a great deal of ceremony, to mourn with
him, and to comfort him; {ch. ii. 11.) and some ex-
traordinary things were expected from such great
men, such good men, such wise, learned, knowing
men, and Job's particular friends; none questioned
but that the drift of their discourses would be to
comfort Job with the remembrance of his former
piety, the assurance of God's favour to him, and
the prospect of a glorious issue; but, instead of this,
they most barbarously fall upon him with their re-
proaches and censures, condemn him as a hypo-
crite, insult over his calamities, and pour vinegar,
instead of oil, into his wounds, and thus they dealt
deceitfully with him. Note, 1. It is fraud and de-
ceit not only to violate our engagements to our
friends, but to frustrate their just expectations from
us, especially the expectations we have raised. 2.
It is our wisdom to cease from man; we cannot ex-
pect too little from the creature, nor too much from
the Creator. It is no new thing even for brethren
to deal deceitfully; (Jer. ix. 4, 5. Mic. vii. 5.) let
us therefore put our confidence in the Rock of ages,
not in broken reeds; in the Fountain of life, not in
broken cisterns. God will outdo our hopes as much
as men come short of them.

This disappointment which he met with, he here
illustrates by the failing of biooks in summer.

(1.) The similitude is very elegant, v. 15- -20.
[1.] Their pretensions are fitly compared to the
great show which the brooks make, when they ai-e
swelled with the waters of a land-flood, by the
melting of the ice and snow, which makes them
blackish or muddy, t^. 16. [2.] His expectations
from them, which their coming so solemnly to com-
fort him had raised, he compares to the expecta-
tion which the weary thirsty travellers have ot
finding water in the summer there, where they
have often seen it in great abundance in the winter,
v. 19. The troops of Tema and Sheba, the cara-
vans of the merchants of those countries, whose
road lay through the deserts of Arabia, looked and
waited for a supply of water from those broc ks:
" Hard by here," says one, " A little further,"
says another, " when I last travelled this way,
there was water enough, we shall have that to re-
fresh us." Where we have met with relief and
comfort, we are apt to expect it again; and yet it
does not follow: for, [3.] The disappointment of
his expectation is here compared to the confiisi<n
which seizes the poor travellers, when they find
heaps of sand where they expected floods of water.
In the winter, when they were not thirsty, there
was water en^uigh; every one will applaud and <.d
mire those that are full and in prosperity: but, in
the heat of summer, when they needed water, then
it failed them, it was consumed, (t. 17.) it was
turned aside, v. 18. When those who are rich
and high, are sunk and impoverished, and stand in
need of comfort, then those who before gathered
about them, stand aloof from them, who before
commended them, are forward to run them down:
thus they who raise their expectations high from
the creature, will find it fail them then when it

JOB, VI.

41

should help them; whereas they who make God
their confidence have help in the lime of need,
lico. \\. 16. They who make gold their hope,
sooner or later will be ashamed of it, and of their
confidence in it; (Ezek. vii. 19.) and the greater
their confidence was, the greater their shame will
be; They were confounded because they had hofitd,
V. 20. We prepare confusion for ourselves by our
vain hopes: the reeds break under us, because we
lean upon them. If we build a house upon the
stmd, we shall certainly be d iifounded, for it will
fcill in the storm, and we must thank ourselves for
being such fools to expect it would stand. We are
not deceived unless we deceive ourselves.

(2.) The application is very close; {v. 21.) For
novj ye arc nothing. They seemed to be some-
what, but in conference they added nothing to him.
Allude to Gal. ii. 6. He was never the wiser,
never the better, for the visit they made him.
Note, Whatevei- complacency we may take, or
whatever confidence we may put, in creatures, how
great soever they may seem, and how dear soever
they may be, to us, one time or other we shall say
of them, JSToiv ye are nothing. When Job was in
prosperity, his friends were something to him, he
took complacency in them and their society; but
*' A''oiv ye are nothing, now I can find no ccmfoit
but in God." It were well for us, if we had always
such convictions of the vanity of the creature, and
its insufficiency to make us happy, as we have
sometimes had, or shall ha\e, on a sick-bed, a
death-bed, or in trouble of conscience; ^^ JVow ye
are nothing. You are not what you have been,
what you should be, what you pretend to be, what
I thought you would have been; for you see my
casting down, and are ; fraid. When you saw me
in my elevation, you caressed me; but, now that
you see me in my dejection, you are shy of me, are
afraid rf showing yourselves kind, lest I should
take boldness thence, to beg something of you, or
to borrow;" (compare v. 22.) "you are afraid,
lest, if you own me, you should be obliged to keep
me." Perhaps they were afraid of catching his
distemper, or of coming within smell of the noisome-
ness of it. It is not good, either out of pride or
niceness, for love of our purses, or of our bodies, to
be shy of those in distress, and afraid of coming
near them. Their case may soon be our own.

22. Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give
a reward for me of your substance ? 23.
Or, Deliver me from the enemies' hand ?
or. Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue ;
and cause me to understand wherein I have
erred. 25. How forcible are right words!
but what doth your arguing reprove ? 26.
Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the
speeches of one that is desperate, ivhich are
as wind? 27. Yea, ye overwhelm the
fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28. Now, therefore, be content: look upon
me : for it is evident unto you if I lie. 29.
Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity ?
yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30. Is there iniquity in my tongue? Can-
not my taste discern perverse things?

Poor Job goes on here to upbraid his friends with
their unkindness, and the hard usage they gave
him. He here appeals to themselves concerning
several things which tended both to justify him and

Vol. iii.-F

condemn them. If they would but think impar-
tially, and speak as they thought, they could not
but own,

I. That though he was necessitous, yet he was
not craving, nor burthensome to his friends. Thc^se
that are so, whose troubles serve them to beg by,
are commonly less pitied than the silent poor. Job
would be glad to see his friends, but he did not say,
Bring unto me, {y. 22. ) or, Deliver me, v. 23. He
did not desire to put them to any expense; did not
urge his friends, either, 1. To make a collection
for him, to set him up again in the world, though
he could plead that his losses came upon him by
the hand of God, and not by any fault or folly of
his own; that he was utterly ruined and impo-
verished; that he had lived in good condition, and
that, when he had wherewithal, he was charitable,
and ready to help those that were in distress; that
his friends were rich, and able to help him; yet he
did not say, Give me of your substance. Note, A
good man, when troubled himself, is afraid of being
troublesome to his friends. Or, 2. To raise the
country for him, to help him to recover his cattle
out of the hands of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, or
to make reprisals upon them; " Did I send for you
to deliver me out of the hand of the mighty? No,
I ne\ er expected you sh'aild either expose your-
selves to any danger, or put yourselves to any
charge, upon my account; I wil'l rather sit down
content under my affliction, and make the best of
it, than spunge upon my friends." St. Paul work-
ed with his hands, that he might not be burthen-
some to any. Job's not asking their help, did not
excuse them from offering it when he needed it,
and it was in the power of their hands to give it;
but it much aggravated their unkindness, when he
desired no moi e from them than a good look, and
a good word, and yet could not obtain them. It
often happens that fn m man, even when we ex-
pect little, we have less, but from God, even when
we expect much, we have more, Eph. iii. 20.

II. That though he differed in opinion from
them, yet he was not ol:)stinate, but ready to yield
to conviction, and to strike sail to truth, as soon as
ever it was made to appear to him that he was in
an error; {v. 24, 25.) "If, instead of invidious re-
flections and uncharitable insinuations, you will
give me plain instructions and solid arguments,
which shall carry their own evidence along with
them, I am ready to acknowledge my eiTor, and
own myself in a fault; Teach me, and I will hold
my tongue, for I have often found, with pleasure
and wondei-, how forcible right words are: but the
method yf u take will never make proselytes; what
doth your arguing reprove? Your hypothesis is
false, your surmises are groundless, your manage-
ment weak, and your application peevish and un-
charitable." Note, 1. Fair reasoning has a com-
manding power, and it is a wonder if men are not
conquered by it; but railing and foul language is
impotent and foolish, and it is no wonder if meii are
exasperated and hardened by it. 2. It is the un-
doubted character of every honest man, that he is
truly desirous to have his mistakes rectified, and to
be made to understand wherein he has erred*
and that right words, when they appear to him to
be so, though contrary to his former sentiments,
are both forcible and acceptable.

III. That though he had been indeed in a f ult,
yet they ought not to have given him such hard
usage; (i'. 26, 27.) ^' Do you imagine, or contrive
with a great deal of art," (for so the word signi-
fies,) *Ho r(°/?roT'(f worfi^s, some passionate expres-
sions of mine in this desperate condition, as if they
were certain indications of reigning impiety and
atheism? A little candour and charity would have
served to excuse them, and to put a better con-

42

JOB, VII.

struction upon them. Shall a man's spiritual state
be judged of by some rash and hasty words, which
d burp rising trouble extorts from him? Is it fair, Is
it kind, Is it just, to criticise in such a case? Would
you youi'sehes be served thus?" Two things aggra-
vated their unkind treatment of him. 1. That they
took ad\ antage of his weakness, and the helpless
condition he was in; Ye overiv helm the fatherless,
a proverbial expression, bespeaking tliat which is
uiost barbarous and inhuman. " The fatherless
c-iniiot secure themselves from insults; which im-
L) Jidens men of base and sordid spirits to insult
tiieni and trample upon them; and you do so by
uic." Job, being a childless father, thought him-
self as much exposed to injury as a fatherless child,
^^Ps. cxxvii. 5.) and had reason to take it ill at
tnose who, therefore, triumphed over him. Let
in.-se, wno overwhelm and overpower them that
upon auy account may be looked upon as father-
less, know that therein they not only put off the
compassions of man, but fight against the compas-
sions of God, wlio is, and will be, a Father of
tae fatherless, and a Helper of the helpless. 2.
That they made pretence of kindness; " You dig a
flit for your friend; not only you are unkind to me,
who am your friend, but, under colour of friend-
ship, you insnare me." When they came to see
and sit with him, he thought he might speak his
mind freely to them, and that tlie more bitter his
complaints to them were, the more they would
ha\ e endeavoured to comfort him. This made
him take a greater liberty than otherwise he would
have done. David, though he smothered his re-
sentments when the wicked were before him, it is
likely, would have given vent to them, if none had
been by but friends, Ps. xxxix. 1. But this free-
dom of speech, which their professions of concern
for him made him use, had exposed him to their
censures, and so they might be said to dig a pit for
him. Tnus, when our hearts are hot within us,
what is ill d' me we are apt to misrepresent, as if
done designedly.

IV. T.iat though he had let fall some passionate
expressions, yet, in tiie main, he was in the right, and
th.a his afflictions, though very extraordinary, did
not prove him to be a hypocrite, or a wicked man.
His righteousness he holds fast, and will not let
it go.

For the evincing of it, he here appeals,

1. To what they saw in him; {y. 28.) '^ Be con-
tent, and look ujion me; what do you see in me,
that ijespeaks me either a mad man, or a wicked
man? Nay, look in my face, and you may discern
there the uulications of a patient and submissive
spirit, for all this. Let the show of my countenance
Witness for me, that th' ugh I have cursed my day,
I do not curse my (iod. " Or rather, "Look upon
my ulcers and sore boils, and by them it will be
eident to you that I do not lie; that is, "that I
do not complain without cause. Let your own eyes
convince you that my condition is very sad, and
that I do not quarrel with God, by making it worse
than it is."

2. To what they heard from him; (v. 30.) "You
hear what I have to say; Is there iniquity in my
longuv? That iniquity that you charge me with?
Have I blasphemed God, or renounced him? Are
not my present arguings right? Do not you per-
ceive, bv what I say, that 1 can discern perverse
things? 1 can discover your fallacies and mistakes,
and if I were myself in an error, I could perceive
it. Whatev er you think of me, I know what I say. "

3. To their own second and sober thoughts;
{v. 29.) " Return, I pray you, consider the thing
over again, without prejudice and ])artiality, and let
not tlie result be iniquity, let it not be an unrighte-
ous sentence; and you will find my righteousness

is in it," that is, "I am in the right in this matter;
and though I cannot keep my temper as I sliould, I
keep my integrity, and have not said, or done, or
suffered, any thing which will prove me other than
an honest man. " A just cause desires nothing more
than a iust hearing, and, if need be, are-hearing.

CHAP. Nil.

Job, in this chapter, goes on to express the bitter sense he
had of his calamities, and to justify himself in his desire
of death. I. He complains to himself and liis friends of
his troubles, and the constant agitation he was in, v.
1 . . 6. 11. He turns to God, and expostulates with
him, V. 7. to the end. In which, 1. He pleads the final
period which death puts to our present slate, v. 7 . . 10.
2. He passionately complains of the mi-scrable condition
he was now in, v. 11 .. 16. 3. He wonders that God will
thus contend with him, and begs for the pardon of his
sins, and a speedy release out of his miseries, v. 17 . . 21.
It is hard to methodise the speeches of one who owned
himself almost desperate, ch. vi. 26.

1. ¥S there not an appointed time to man
upon earlh ? are not his clays also like
the days of a hireling / 2. As a servant
earnestly desireth the shadow, and as a
hireling looketh for the reheard of his work ;
S. So am I made to possess months of va-
nity, and wearisome nights are appointed
to me. 4. When I lie down, J say, When
shall I arise, and the night be gone ? and I
am full of tossings to and fro unto the
dawning of the day. 5. My flesh is cloth-
ed with worms and clods of dust; my skin
is broken, and become loathsome. 6. My
days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and are spent without hope.

Job is here excusing what he could not justify,
even his inordinate desire of death. W^hy should
he not wish for the period of life, which would be
the period of his miseries? To enforce this reason,
he argues,

I. From the general condition of man upon earth ;
{v. 1.) " He is of few days, and full of trouble.
Every man must die shortly, and every man has
some reason (more or less) to desire to die shortly;
and, therefore, why should yru impute it to me as
so heinous a crime, that / wish to die shortly?" Or
thus; " Pray mistake not my desires of death, as if
I thought the time appointed of God could be anti-
cipated; no, I know very well that thaf' is fixed;
only in such language as this, I take the liberty to
express my present uneasiness. Is there not an afi-
fiointed time {a warfare, so the word is) to man
ufion earth? And are not his days here like the days
of a hireling?" Observe,

1. Man's present place: he is upon earth, which
God has given to the children of men, Ps. cxv. 16.
This bespeaks man's meanness and inferiority: how
much below the inhabitants of yonder elevated and
refined regions is he situated! It also bespeaks
God's mercy to him: he is yet u/ion the earth, not
under it; nn earth, not in hell. Our time on earth
is limited and short, according to the narrow
bounds of this earth; but heaven cannot be mea-
sured, nor the days of hea\ en numbered.

2. His continuance in that place: is there not a
time appointed for his abode here? Yes, certainly
there is, and it is easy to say by whom the appoint-
ment is made, even by Him that made us and set
us here. We are not to be on this earth alwavs,
nor long, but for a certain time, which is detei-
mined by Him in whose hand our times are. We
are not to think that we are governed b)' the blind

JOB, VII.

43

fate of the Stoics, or by the blind fortune of the
Epicureans, but by the wise, holy, and sovereign,
counsel of God.

3. His condition during that continuance: man's
life is a ivarfare, and as the days of a hireling. We
are every owq of us to look upon ourselves in this
world, (1.) As soldiers, exposed to hardship, and
in tlie midst of enemies; we must ser\e and be un-
der command; ;>nd, when our warfare is accom-
plished, we must be disbanded, dismissed with
either shame or honoui-, according to what we hive
tione in the body. (2.) As day-labourers, that have
the work, of the day to do in its day, and must make
up tlieir account at night.

II. From his own condition at this time. He had
as much reason, he thought, to wish for death, as
a poor servant or hireling, tuat is tired with his
work, has to wish for the shadows of the evening,
when he shall receive his penny, and go to rest, v.
2. The darkness of the night is as welcome to the
labourer, as the light of the morning is to the
watchman, Ps. cxxx. 6. The God of nature has
provided for the repose of labourers, and no won-
der that they desire it. The sleep of the labouring
man is sweet, Eccl. v. 12. No pleasure more grate-
ful, more relishing, to the luxurious, than rest to
the labourers; nor can any rich man take so much
satisfacrion in the return of his rent-days, as the
hii-eling in his day's wages. The comparison is
plain, the application is concise, and somewhat ob-
scure; but we must supply a word or two, and then
it is easy: exactness ot language is not to be expect-
ed from one in Job's condition. " As a servant ear-
nestly desires the shadow, so, and for the same rea-
son, I earnestly desire death, for I am made to
possess," &c. Hear his complaint:

1. His days were useless, and had been so a great
wliile; he was wholly taken off from business, and
utterly unfit foi- it. Evei'y day was a burtlien to
him, because he was in no capacity of doing good,
or of spending it to any purpose. FJ I'itee partem non
attigit ullam — He cnikl not Jill uji his time nvith any
thing that would turn to accojuit; this he calls /ios-
sessing months of vanity, v. 3. It very much in-
creases the affliction of sickness and age, to a good
man, that he is thereby forced from his useful-
ness. He insists not so much upon it, that they
are days in which he has no pleasure, as that they
are days in which he does no good; on that account,
they are months of vanity: but when we are dis-
abled to work for God, if we will but sit still qui-
etly for him, it is all one; we shall be accepted.

2. His nights were restless, v. 3, 4. The night
relieves the toil and fatigue of the day, not only to
the labourers, but to the sufferers: if a sick man can
but get a little sleep in the night, it helps nature,
and it is hoped that he will do well, John xi. 12.
However, be the trouble what it will, sleep gives
some intermission to the cares, and pains, and
griefs, that afflict us: it is the parenthesis of our
sorrows: but poor Job could not gain this relief.
(1.) His nights were wearisome, and, instead of
taking any rest, he did but tire himself more with
tossing to and fro until morning. Those that are in
great uneasiness, through pain of body, or anguish
of mind, think, by changing sides, changing places,
changing postures, to get some ease; but, while the
cause is the same within, it is all to no purpose; it is-
but a resemblance of a fretful discontented spirit,
that is ever shifting, but never easy. This made
him dread the night as much as the servant desires
it, and, when he lay down, to say, IVhen will the
night be gone? (2. ) These wearisome nights were
appointed to him; God, who determines the times
before appointed, had allotted him such nights as
t] ese. Whatever is, at any time, grievous to us, it
is good to see it appointed for us, that we may ac-

quiesce in the event, not only as unavoidable,
because appointed, but as, therefore, designed for
some hoi)- end. When we have comfortable nights,
we must see them also appointed to us, and be
thankful for them; many better than we have wea-
risome nights.

3. His body was noisome, x'. 5. His sores bred
worms, the scabs were like clods of dust, and his
skin was broken; so evil was the disease which
cleaved fast to him. See what vile bodies we have,
and what little reason we have to pamper them, or
be proud of them; they ha\e in themselves the
principles of their own coriuption: as fond as we
are of them now, the time may come, when we
may loathe them, and long to get rid of them.

4. His life was hastening apace towards a period,
V. 6. He thought he had no reason to expect a
long life, f(;r he found himself declining fast; {xk 6.)
My days are swfter than a weaver^s shuttle, that
is, " My time is now but short, and there are but a
few sands more in my glass, which will speedily run
out." Natural motions are more swift near the
centre; Job thought his days ran swiftly, because
he thought he should soon be at his journey's end;
he looked upon them as good as spent already, and
he was therefore without hope of being restored to
his former prosperity. It is applicable to maii's
life in general; our days are like a weaver's shuttle,
thrown from one side of the web to the other, in the
twinkling of an eye, and then back again, to and
fro, un'^il, at length, it is quite exhausted of the
thread it carried; and then we cut off, like a weaver,
our life, Isa. xxxviii. 12. Time hastens on apace, the
motitn of it cannot be stopped, and, when it is past,
it cannot be recalled. While we are living, we ; re
sowing, (Gal. vi. 8.) so we are weaving; every day,
like the shuttle, leaves a thread behind it; many
weave the spider's web, which will fail them, ch.
viii. 14. If we are weaving to ourselves holy gar-
ments and robes of righteousness, we shall ha\e
the benefit of them when our work comes to be re-
viewed, and every man shall reap as he sowed, and
wear as he wove.

7. O remember that my life is wind :
mine eye shall no more see good. 8. The
eye of him that hath seen me shall see me
no more : thine eyes are upon me, and I am
not. 9. yis the cloud is consumed and va-
nisheth away; so he that goeth down 1o
the grave sliiill come up no more. 10. He
shall return no more to his house, neither
shall his place know him any more. 1 1 .
Tiierefore I v\'ill not refrain my mouth ; I
will speak in the anguish of my spirit ; 1
will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12. Ajji I a sea, or a whale, that thou set-
test a watch over me? 13. When I say.
My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall
ease my complaint; 14. Then thou scarest
me with dreams, and terrifiest me through
visions: 15. So that my soul choosedi
strangling, and death rather than my life.
1 6. I loathe it : I would not live always :
let me alone ; for my days are vanity.

Job, observing perhaps that his friends, though
they would not interrupt him in his discourse, yet
began to grow weary, and not to heed much what
he said, here turns to God, and speaks to him. If
men will not hear us, God will; if men cannot help
us, he can; for his arm is not shortened, neither is

44

JOB, VII.

/j/.9 ear heavy. Yet we must not go to school to
J.-il) here, to"leam how to speak to God, for, it must
he c;riitessed, there is a great mixture of passion
and corruption in what he here says: but if God be
not extreme to mark what his people say amiss, let
ns also make the best of it. Job is here begging of
God either to ease him or end him.

He here represents himself to God,

I. As a dying man, surely and speedily dying.
It is good for us, when we are sick, to think and
speak of death, for sickness is sent on puroose to
put us in mind of it; and if we be duly mindful of it
ourselves, we may, in faith, put God in mind of it,
as Job does here; {v. 7.) 0 remember that my life
is vjind. He recommends himself to God as an
object of his pity and compassion, with this con-
sideration, that he was a very weak, frail, creature,
his abode in this world short and uncertain, his
removal out of it sure and speedy, and his return
to it again impossible, and never to be expected;
that his life was wind, as the lives of all men are,
noisy perhaps, and blustering, like the wind, but
vain and empty, soon gone, and, when gone, past
recall. God had compassion on Israel, remember-
ing that they -were but flesh, a wind that fiasseth
away, and cometh not again, Ps. Ixxviii. 38, 39.
Observe,

1. The pious reflections Job makes upon his own
life and death. Such plain truths as these con-
cerning the shortness and vanity of life, the un-
avoidableness and irrecoverableness of death, then
do us good, when we think and speak of them with
application to oursehes. Let us consider, then,

(1.) That we must shortly take our leave of all
the things that are seen, that are temporal. The
eye of the body must be closed, and shall no more
see good, the good which most men set their hearts
upon, for their cry is, Who will make us to see
good? Ps. iv. 6. If we be such fools as to place
our happiness in visible good things, what will be-
come of us when they shall be for ever hid from
our eyes, and we shall no more see good? Let us,
therefore, live by that faith which is the substance
and evidence of things not seen.

(2.) That we must then remove to an invisible
world: the eye of him that hath here seen me, shall
see me no more there. It is 'hStn; — aii unseen state,
V. 8. Death removes our lovers and friends into
darkness, (Ps. Ixxxviii. 18.) and will shortly re-
move us out of their sight; when we go hence we
shall be seen no more, (Ps. xxxix. 13.) but go to
converse with the things that are not seen, that are
eternal.

(3.) That God can easily, and in a moment, put
an end to our lives, and send us to another world;
(t. 8.) "Thine eyes are u/ion me, and I am not :
thou canst look me into eternity, frown me into the
grave, when thou pleasest."

Shoiild'st thou, dUpleas'd, give me a frowning look,
I sink, I (lie, as if witli lightning struck.

Sir R. Blackmorb.

He takes away our breath, and we die; nay, he
but looks on the earth, and it trembles, Ps. civ.
29, 32.

(4.) That when we are once removed to another
world, we must never return to this. There is
constant passing from this world to the other, but
Vestigia nulla retrorsum — There is no refia/ising.
•• Therefore, Lord, show me kindness while I am
here, for I shall return no more to receive kindness
in this world." Or, "Therefore, Lord, kindly
-/ase me bv death, for that will be a perpetual ease,
. shall return no more to the calamities of this life."
♦\'hen we are dead, we are gone, to return no
inore, [1.] From our house under ground, v. 9.
He that goeth down to the grave, shall come ufi no

more, until the general resurrection, shall come up
no more to his place in this world. Dying is work
that is to be done but once, and therefoi-e it had
need be well done: an error theie is pSret retrieve.
This is illustrated by the blotting out and scattering
of a cloud. It is consumed, and vanisheth awav, is
resolved into air, and never knits again: other
clouds arise, but the same cloud never returns: so
a new generation of the children of men is raised
up, but the former generation is quite consuuied,
and vanishes away. When we see a cloud which
looks great, as if it would eclipse the sun and drown
the earth, of a sudden dispersed and disappearing,
let us say, "Just such a thing is the life of man; it
is a -vapour that appears for a little while, and then
vanishes away." [2.] To return no more to our
house above ground, v. 10. He shall return no
more to his house, to the possession and enjoyment
of it, to the business and delights of it: others will
take possession, and keep it till they also res'gn to
another generation. The rich man in hell des'red
Lazarus might be sent to his house, knowing it was
to no purpose to ask that he might have leave to go
himself. Glorified saints shall return no more to
the cares, and burthens, and sorrows, of their
house; nor damned sinners to the gaieties and
pleasures of their house. Their place shall no
more know them, no more own them, hive no
more acquaintance with them, nor be any more
under their influence. It concerns us to secure a
better place when we die, for this will no more
own us.

2. The passionate inference he draws from it.
From these premises he might have drawn a bet'.ei
conclusion than this, {y. 11.) Therefore I will not
refrain my mouth, I will speak, t will complain.
lioly David, when he had been meditating on the
frailty of human life, made a contrary use of it;
(Ps. xxxix. 9. ) / was dumb, and opened not my
mouth : but Job, finding himself near expiring,
hastens as much to make his complaint, as if he
had been to make his last will and testament, r r as
if he could not die in peace until he had given vent
to his passion. When we have but a few breaths
to draw, we should spend them in the holy, gra-
cious, breathings of faith and prayer, not in the
noisome, noxious, breathings of sin and corruptirn.
Better die praying and praising, than die complain-
ing and quarrelling.

II. As a distempered man, sorely and grievously
distempered, both in body and mind. In this ]iart
of his representation, he is verv peevish, as if God
dealt hardly with him, and laid upon hint more
than was meet. Am T a sea, or a whale? v. 12.
"A raging sea, that must be kept within brunds,
to check its proud waves, or an unruly whale, that
must be restrained by force from devouring all the
fishes of the sea? Am I so strong, that there needs
so much ado to hold me? So boisterous, that i o
less than all these mightv bonds of affliction will
serve to tame me, and kcej) me within compass?"
We are very apt, when we are in afflicti<'n, to
complain of God and his providence, as if he laid
more restraint upon us than there is occas'cn f' r;
whereas we arc never in heaviness but when there
is need, or beyond the just measure.

1. He complains that he could n^t rest in his
bed, T'. 13, 14. There we promise rursehes snne
repose, when we are fatigued with labotir, rain, f-r
travel; My bed shall comfort me, and my couch
shall ease my complaint; sleep will, for a tinie, gi^ e
me some relief; it does so; it is appointed for that
end; many a time it has eased us, and we ha\(:
awaked refreshed, and with new vigour. \\'beii
it is so, we have great reason to be thankful; but it
was not so with poor Job; his bed, instead of com
forting him, terrified him; and his couch, instead

JOB, VII.

45

of easing his complaint, added to it; for if he drop-
ped asleep, he was disturbed with his frightful
d I earns, and when those awaked him, still he was
haunted with dreadful appaiitions. This was it,
tliat made the night so unwelcome and wearisome
to him as it was; {v. 4.) When shall I arisen Note,
God can, when he pleases, meet us with terror
tliere, where we promise ourselves ease and repose;
nay, he can make us a terror to ourselves, and, as
we have often contracted guilt, by the rovings of
an unsanctified fancy, he can likewise, by the
power of our own imagination, create as much
grief, and so make that our punishment which has
often been our sin. In Job's dreams, though they
might jjartly arise from his distemper, (in fevers,
or small-pox, when the body is all over sore, it is
common for the sleep to be unquiet,) yet we ha\'e
reas'm to think Satan had a hand in them; Satan,
who delights to terrify those whom it is out of his
reach to -destroy; but Job looked up to God, who
permitted Satan to do this, ( Thou scarest me,) and
mistook Satan's representations for the terrors of
God setting themselves in array against him. We
have reason to pray to God that our dreams may
neither defile nor disquiet us, neither tempt us to
sin, nor torment us with fear; that He who keeps
Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, may keep
us when v^e slumber and sleep; that the Devil may
not then do us a mischief, either as an insinuating
serpent, oi- as a roaring lion; and to bless God if we
lie down and our sleep is sweet, and we are not
thus scared.

2. He covets to rest in his grave, that bed where
there are no tossings to and fro, nor any frightful
dreams, v. 15, 16. (1.) He was sick of life, and
hated the thoughts of it; "I loathe it, I have had
enough of it, I would not live alway: not only not
live alway in this condition, in pain and misery, but
not live alway in the most easy and prosperous
condition, to be continually in danger of being thus
reduced: my days are vanity at the best, empty
of solid comfort, exposed to real griefs; and I would
not be for ever tied to such uncertainty." Note,
A good man would not (if he might) live always in
this world, no, not though it smile upon him, be-
cause it is a world of sin and temptation, and he
has a better world in prospect. (2.) He was fond
of death, and pleased himself with the thoughts of
it: his soul (his judgment, he thought, but really it
was his passion) chose strangling and death rather;
any death rather than such, a life as this. Doubt-
less, this was Job's infirmity; for though a good
man would not wish to live alway in this world,
and would choose strangling and death rather than
sin, as the martyrs did, yet he will be content to
live as long as pleases God, not choose them rather
than life, because life is our opportunity of glorify-
ing God, and getting ready for heaven.

17. What is man that thou shouldest
magnify him? and that thou shouldest set
thy heart upon him? 18. And that thou
shouldest visit him every morning, and try
him every moment? 19. How long wilt
thou not depart from me, nor let me alone
till I swallow down my spittle ? 20. I have
sinned; what shall T do unto thee, O thou
Preserver of men ? why hast thou set me as
a mark against thee, so that I am a burden
to myself? 21. And why dost thou not
pardon my transgression, and take away
mine iniquity ? for now shall I sleep in the

dust ; and thou shalt seek me in the morn-
ing, but I shall not be.

Job here reasons with God,

I. Concerning his dealings with man in general;
{y. 17, 18.) What is man, that thou shouldest mag-
nify him? This may be looked upon either, 1. As
a passionate reflection upon the proceedings of di-
\ine justice; as if the great God did diminish and
disparage himself, in contending with man. Great
men think it below them to take cognizance of
those who are much their inferiors, so far as to
reprove and correct their follies and indecencies;
why then does God magnify man, by visiting him,
and trying him, and making so much ado about
him.' Why will he thus pour all his foi'ces upon
one that is such an unequal match for him? W by
will he visit him with afflictions, which, like a
quotidian ague, return as duly and constantly as the
morning-light, and try, every moment, what he
can bear.' We mistake God, and the nature of his
providence, if we think it any lessening to him, to
take notice of the meanest of his creatures. ( )r,
2. As a pious admiration of the condescensions cf
divine grace, like that, Ps. viii, 4. — cxliv. 3. He
owns God's favour to man in general, even then
when he complains of his own particular troubles.
"What is man, miserable man, a poor, mean,
weak creature, that Thou, the great and glorious
God, shouldest deal with him as thou dost? What
is man," (1.) "That thou shouldest put such
honour upon him; shouldest magnify him, by
taking him into covenant and communim with
thyself?" (2.) "That thou shouldest concern
thyself so much about him, shouldest set thy heart
upon him, as dear to thee, and one thou hast a
kindness for?" (3.) "That thou shouldest visit
him with thy compassions every morning, as we
daily visit a particular friend, or as the physician
visits his patients every morning, to help them?"
(4.) "That thou shouldest try him, shouldest feel
his pulse, and observe his looks, every moment, as
in care about him, and jealous over him?" That
such a worm of the earth as man is, should be the
darling and favourite of Heaven, is what we have
reason for ever to admire.

II. Concerning his dealings with him in particu-
lar. Observe,

1. The complaint he makes of his afflictions,
which he here aggravates, and (as we are all too
apt to do) makes the worst of, in three expressions.
(1.) That he was the butt to God's arrows; "Thou
hast set me as a mark against thee" v. 20. "My
case is singular, and none is shot at so as I am."
(2.) That he was a burthen to himself, readv to
sink under the load of his own life. How much
delight soever we take in ourselves, God can, when
he pleases, make us burthens to ourselves. What
comfort can we take in ourseh es, if God appear
against us as an Enemy, and we have not comfort
in him? (3.) That he had no intermission of his
griefs; {v. 19.) "How long will it be ere thou
cause thy rod to defiart from me, or abate the
rigour of the correction, at least, for so long as that
I may swallow down my spittle?''^ It should seem,
Job's distemper lay much in his throat, and almost
choked him, so that he could not swallow his
spittle. He complains, (c//. xxx. 18.) that it
bound him about like the collar of his coat. "Lord,"
says he, "wilt not thou give me seme respite, some
breathing time?" ch. ix. 18.

2. The concern he is in about his sins. The
best men have sin to complain of, and the better
they are, the more they will complain of it.

(i.) He ingenuously owns himself guilty before
God; I have sinned. God had said of him, that he

46

JOB, VIII.

was a pprffct. and ati ufiri^ht man; yet he says of
hioiselt", / /lave sinned. Those m:;y l^e upright
who yet are not sinless; and those who are sin-
cerely penitent are accepted, through a Mediator,
as evangcUcally perfect. Job maintained, against
his friends, that he was not a hypocrite, not a
wicked man; and yet owns to his God, that he had
sinned. If we ha\ e been kept from gross acts of
sin, it does not, therefore, follow that we are inno-
cent. The best must acknowledge, before God,
tliat they have sinned. His calling God the Ob-
server, or Preserver, of men, may be looked upon
as designed for an aggravation of his sin; "Though
God has had his eye upon me, his eye upon me for
good, yet I have sinned against him." When we
are in affliction, it is seasonable to confess sin, as the
procuring cause of our affliction. Penitent confes-
sions would drown and silence passionate complaints.

(2. ) He seriously inquires how he might make
his peace with God; "What shall I do unto thee,
having done so much against thee?" Are we con-
vinced that we have sinned, and are we brought to
own it? We cannot but conclude that something
must be done, to prevent the fatal consequences of
it. The matter must not rest as it is, but some
course must be taken, to undo what has been ill
done. And, if we are truly sensible of the danger
we have run ourselves into, we shall Ijc willing to
do any thing; to take a pardon upon any terms; and
therefore shall be inquisitive as to what ive shall
do, {M\'\ vi. 6, 7. ) what we shall do to God, not
to satisfy the demands of his justice, (that is done
only by the Mediator,) but to qualify ourselves for
the tokens of his favour, according to the tenor of
the gospel covenant. In making this inquiry, it is
good to eye God as the Preserver or Saviour of
men, not the Destroyer. In our repentance, we
must keep up good thoughts of God, as one that
delights not in the ruin of his creatures, but would
ratlier they should return and live. " Thou art
the Saviour of men; be my Sa\iour, for I cast my-
self upon thy mercy."

(3.) He earnestly begs for the forgiveness of his
sins, 7'. 21. The heat of his spirit, as, on the one
hand, it m ule his complaints the more bitter, so,
<^n the other hand, it made his pravers the more
lively and importunate; as here, " JVhi/ dost thou
not jiardnn my transgression? Art not thou a God
of infin'te mcrcv, that art ready to forgive? Hast
not thou wrought repentance in me? Why then
dost thou not giye me the pardon of my sin, and
make me to hear the voice of that joy and glad-
ness?" Sui'clv he means more than barely the
removin:^ of his outward trouble, and is herein
earnest for the return of God's favour, which he
compl lined of the want of, ch, vi. 4. "Lord,
pardon my sins, and give me the comfort of that
pardon, and then I can easily bear my afflictions,"
Matth. ix. 2. Isa. xxxiii. 24. When the mercy
of God pardons the transgression that is committed
by us, the grace of God takes away the iniquity
that reigns in us. Wherever God removes the
guilt of sin, he breaks the power of sin.

(4.) To (-nforce his prayer for ])ardon, he pleads
the p'-ospect he had of clving quicklv; For now
shall I sleep in the dust; death will lay us in the
dust, will lay us to sleep there, and perhaps now in a
little time. Job had been com])laining of restless
nights, and that sleep departed from his eyes; (v.
.'!, 4, lo, 14.) but those who cannot sleep in abed
•)fdo\vn, will shortly sleep in a bed of dust, and not
oe scared with dreams, nor tossed to and fro.
"Thou shalt seek me in the morning, to show me
I'avour, but / shall not be, it will be too late then.
If my sins be not pardoned while I live, I am lost
and undone for ever." Note, The consideration

I of this, that we. must shortly die, and perhaps may
die suddenly, should make us all veiy solicit. u> to
get our sins pardoned, and our iniquity taken <iway.

CHAP. vni.

Job's friends are like Job's messcnp-ers; those followed
one another close with evil tidinL's, these with harsh i iii-
sures: both, uHaw;ires, served Suian's desiirn; those lo
drive him from his integrity, these to drive him (Voiti the
comfort of it. Eliphaz did not reply lo nhm .loli li;id
said in answer to him, but left it to Bildad, whom he
knew to be of the same mind with himself in this aflair
Those are not the wisest of llie company, but the ivi'.ik
est rather, who covet to have all the talk. Lei others
speak in their turn, and let the first keep silence, 1 Cor.
xiv. 30,31. Eliphnz had undertaken to show, that, be-
cause Job was sorely afflicted, he was certainly a Avjcked
man; Bildad is much of the same mind, and v.\\\ cor.-
clude Job a wicked man, unless God do speedily appear
for his relief. In this chapter, he endeavours to convince
Job, I. That he had spoken too passionately, v. '2. II.
That he and his children had suffered justly, v. 3, 4.
III. That, if he were a true penitent, God would soon
turn his captivity, v. 5.. 7. IV. That it was a usual
thing for Providence to extinguish the joys and iiopes of
wicked men, as his were extinguished; and therefore that
they had reason to suspect him for a hypocrite, v. 8- .19.
V. That they should be abundantly confirmed in iheir
suspicion, unless God did speedily appear for his relief,
V. 20. .22.

1. rr^BEN answered Bildad the Shuhite,
JL and said, 2. How long wilt thou
speak these things? and hoin long shall the
words of thy month he like a strong wind ?
3. Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the
Almighty pervert justice? 4. If thy chil-
dren have sinned against him, and he have
cast them away for their transgression ; 5.
If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and
make thy supplication to the Almighty : 6.
If thou jDert pure and upright ; surely now
he would awake foi" thee, and make the
habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy
latter end should greatly increase.

Here,

I. Bildad reproves Job for what he had said; {v.
2.) checks his passion, but perhaps, (as is too
common,) with ijreater passion. We thought Job
spake a great d«il of good sense, and much to the
purpose, and that he had reason and right on his
side; but Bildad, like an 'eager angry dis])utiiit,
turns it all off with this. How long wilt thou s/},ak
these things? taking it for granted that Elip'.K.z h;id
said enough to silence him, and that therefore all
he said was impertinent. Thus (as Caryl observes)
reproofs are often grounded upon mistakes. Men's
meaning is not taken aright, and then they are
gravely rebuked, as if they were evil-doers. Bil-
dad compares Job's discourse to a strong iririd.
Job had excused himself vvith this, that his s/wechea
were but as wind, (ch. vi. 26.) and therefore they
should not make such ado about them; "Yea, but"
(says Bildad) "they are as a strong wind, bluster
ing and threatening, boisterous and d uigernus, and
therefore we are concerned to fence against them."

II. He justifies God in what he had done. This
he had no occasion to do at this time, for Jol) did
not condemn God, as he would have it thought he
did: and this he might have done, without reOect
ing upon Jol)'s children, as he does here. Could
not he be an advocate for God, but he must be an
accuser of his brethren?

JOB, Vlll.

1. He is right in general, that God doth not per-
vert judgment, nor ever go contrary to any settled
I'lrle oi justice, v. 3. Far be it from him that he
should, and from us that we should suspect him.
He never oppresses the innocent, nor lays more
load on the guilty than they deser\e. He is God,
the Judge; and shall not the Judge of all the earth
do i-ight? Gen. xviii. 25. If there should be unrigh-
teousness with God, hoiv s/tall he judge the world?
Run. iii. 5, 6. He is Almighty, Shaddai, AU-sut-
tii.:ieut. Men pervert justice, sometimes, for fear
if the power of others; but God is Almighty, and
samds in awe of none. Men ha\ e respect to the
f.iv(,ur of others; but God is all-sufficient, and can-
not be benefited by the favour of any. It is man's
weakness and impotency, that he often is unjust; it
is God's omnipotence, that he cannot be so.

2 Yet he is not fair and candid in the application :
he takes it for granted that Job's children (the death
of wiiom was one of the greatest of his afflictions)
had been guilty of some notorious wickedness, and
tliat the unhappy circumstances of their death were
sufficient evidence that they were sinners above all
the children of the east, v. 4. Job readily owned
that God did not pervei't judgment; and yet it did
not therefore follow either that his children were
c:ist-aways, or that they died for some great trans-
gression. It is true that we and our children have
sinned against God, and we ought to justify him in
all he brings upon us and ours; but extraordinary
afflictions are not always the punishment of extra-
ordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordi-
nary graces; and, in our judgment of another's case,
(unless the contrary appears,) we ought to take the
more favourable side, as our Saviour directs, Luke
xiii. 2, 4. Here Bildad missed it.

III. He puts Job in hope, that, if he were indeed
upright, as he said he was, he should yet see a good
issue of his present troubles; "Although thy chil-
dren have sinned against him, and are cast away in
their transgression, they have died in their own sin,
yet, if thou be pure and upright thyself, and, as an
evidence of that, wilt now seek unto God, and sub-
mit to him, all shall be well yet," v. 5 . .7. This
may be taken two ways: either,

1. As designed to pro\ e Job a hypocrite, and a
wicked man, though not by the greatness, yet by
the continuance, of his afflictions. "When thou
wast impoverished, and thy children killed, if thou
hadst been pure and upright, and appi'oved thyself
so in the trial, God would, before now, have re-
turned in mercy to thee, and comforted thee ac-
cording to the time of thine affliction; but because
he does not so, we have reason to conclude thou art
not so pure and upright as thou pretendest to be.
If thou hadst conducted thyself well under the for-
mer affliction, thou hadst not been struck with the
latter." Herein Bildad was not in the right; for a
good man may be afflicted for his ti'ial, not only
ve'-y sorely, but \ ery long, and yet, if for life, it is,
in comparison with eternity, but for a moment.
But, since Bildad put it to this issue, God was pleas-
ed to join issue with him, and proved his ser\ant
Job an honest man, by Bildad's own argument; for,
soon after, he blessed his latter end more than his
beginning. Or,

2. As designed to direct and encourage Job, that
he might not thus run himself into despair, and give
up all for gone; yet there might be hope, if he would
take the right course. I am apt to think Bildad
here intended to condemn Job, yet would be thought
to counsel and comfort him. (1.) He gives him
good counsel, vet perhaps not expecting lie would
take it; the same that Eliphazhad gi\ en him, (ch. v.
8.) to seek unto God, and that betimes, that is,
speedily and seriouslv, and not to i)e dilatory and
trifling in his return and repentance. He advises

him not to compU.in, but to petition, and to make
his supplication to the Almighty with liumility and
faith; and to see that there was (what he feared had
hitherto been wanting) sincerity in his heart, "Thou
must be pure and upright;" and honestv in his
house, " That must be the habitation of thy righ-
teousness, and not filled with ill-gotten goods; else
God will not hear thy prayers," Ps. Ixvi. 18. It is
only the prayer of the upright that is the accepta-
ble and prevailing prayer, Prov. xv. 8. (2.) He
gives him good hopes that he should yet again see
good days, secretly suspecting, howe\ er, that he
was not qualified to see them. He assures him,
That if he would be early in seeking God, God
would awake for his relief, would I'emember him,
and return to him, thovigh now he secnicd to forget
him and forsake him;' That if his habitation were
righteous it should be prosperous; for honesty is the
best policy, and inward piety a sure friend to out-
ward prosperity. When we return to God in a
way of duty, we have reason to hope that he will
return to us in a way of mercy. Let net Job object
that he had so little left to begin the world with
again, that it was impossible he should ever pros-
per as he had done; no, "Though thy beginning
should be ever so small, a little meal in the Ijarrel,
and a little oil in the cruse, God's blessing shall
multiply that to a great increase." This is God's
way of enriching the souls of his people with graces
and comforts, not per saltum — as by a bomid, but
per gradum — step by step. The beginning is
small, but the progress is to perfection. Dawning
light grows to noon-day; a grain cf mustard-seed to
a great ti-ee. Let us not'therefore despise the day
of small things, but hope for the day of great things.
8. For inquire, I pray thee, of" the former
age, and prepare thyself to the search of their
fathers ; 9. (For we arebut q/"yesteiday, and
know nothing, because our days upon earth
wre a shadow:) 10. Shall not they teach
thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of
their heart ? 11. Can the rush grow up
without mire? can the flag grow without
water? 12. Whilst it is yet in his green-
ness, and not cut down, it withereth before
any other herb. 13. So are the paths of
all that forget God; and the hypocrite's
hope shall perish : 1 4. Whose hope shall
be cut off, and whose trust shall he a spi-
der's web. 15. He shall le^n upon his
house, but it shall not stand : he shall hold
it fast, but it shall not endure. 16. He is
green before the sun, and his- branch shoot-
eth forth in his garden. 17. Flis roots are
wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place
of stones. 1 8. If he destroy him from his
place, then it shall deny him, saj/ing, 1 have
not seen thee. 1 9. Behold, this is the joy of
his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
Bildad here discourses well of the sad catastro-
phe of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal pe-
riod of all their hopes and joys. He will not be so
bold as to say, with Eliphaz, that none that were
righteous were ever cut off thus; {ch. iv. 7.) yet he
takes it for granted that God, in the coui-se of his
providence, does ordinarily bring wicked men, who
seemed pious, and were prosperous, to shame and
ruin in this world; and that, by making their pros-
perity short, he discovers their piety to be counter-
feit. ' Whether this will certainly prove that all

48

JOB, VIII.

who are thus i-uined must be concluded to have
been hypocrites, he will m.t say, but ratuer suspects
. nd thinks the applicution is easy.

I. He pro\ es tli.s truth, ot the certain destruction
of all the hopes and joys oi hypocrites, by an appeal
to antiquity, and the concurring sentiment and ob-
servation of all wise and goud men. It is an un-
doubted truth, if we take in the other world, that, if
not in this life, yet in the life to come, hypocrites will
be deprived of all their trusts and uU their triumphs.
Whether Bildad so meant or no, we must so take it.

Let us observe the method of his proof, v. 8- '10.

1. He insists not on his own judgment, and that
of his companions; iTe are but of yesterday, and
know not/ling-, v. 9. He perceived that Job had no
opinion of their abilities, but tliought they knew
httle; '< We will own," says Bildad, "thatweknow
nothing, are as ready to confess our ignorance as
thou art to condemn it; for we are but as yesterday
in comparison, and our days upon earth are short
and transient, and hastening away as a shadow.
And therefore," (1.) "We are not so near the
fountain-head of divine revelation" (which then, for
aught that appears, was conveyed by tradition)
" as the former age was; and therefore we must
inquire what they said, and recount what we have
been told of their sentiments. " Blessed be God,
now that we have the word of God in writing, and
are directed to search that, we need not inquire of
the former age, nor prepare ourselves to the search
of their fathers; for, though we ourselves are but of
yesterday, the word of God in the scripture is as
high us as them; (Rom. x. 8.) and it is the most
sure word ui prophecy, to which we must take
heed. If we study and keep God's precepts, we
may by them understand more than the ancients,
Ps. cx'ix. 99, 100. (2.) "We do not live so long as
they of the former age did, to make observations
upon the methods of Divine Providence, and there-
fore cannot be such competent judges as they, in a
cause of this nature." Note, The shortness of our
lives is a great hindrance to the improvement of
our knowledge; and so is the frailty and weakness
of our bodies. Fita brevis, ars longa — Life is short,
the progress of art boundless.

2. He refers himself to the testimony of the an-
cients, and to the knowledge which Job himself had
of their sentiments. "Do thou inquire of the for-
mer age, and let them tell thee, not only their own
judgment in this matter, but the judgment also of
their fathers; {v. 8. ) they nvill teach thee, and in-
form thee, (y. 10.) that,' all along, in their time,
the judgments of God followed wicked men. This
they will utter of their hearts, that is, as that which
they firmly believe themselves, which they are
greatly affected with, and desirous to acquaint and
affect others with." Note, (1.) For the right un-
derstanding of Div'ne Providence, and the unfolding
of the difficulties of it, it will be of use to compare
the observations and experiences of former ages
with the events of our own day; and, in order there-
unto, to consult history, especially the sacred histo-
ry, which is the most ancient, infallibly true, and
written designedly for our learning. (2.) They
that would fetch knowledge from the former ages,
must search diligently, prepare for the search, and
take pains in the search. (3.) Those words are
most likely to reach to the hearts of the learners,
that come 'from the hearts of the teachers. They
shall teach thee best, that utter words out of their
heart, that speak by experience, and not by rote,
of spiritual and divine things.

The learned Bishop Patrick suggests, that Bil-
dad, being a Shuhite, descended from Shuah, one
of Abraham's sons by Keturah, Gen. xxv. 2. In
this appeal which he makes to history, he has a
J- articular respect to the rewards which the bless-

ings of God secured to the posterity of faithful
Abraham, who hitherto, and long after, continued
in his religion; he refers also to the judicial extir-
pation of those eastern people, neighbi.urs to Job, (in
whose country they were settled,) for their wick-
edness: whence he infers, that it is God's usual way
to prosper the just, and mot out the w icked, though
for a while they may flourish.

II. He illustrates this truth by some similitudes.
1. The hopes and joys of the hypocrites ;;re here
compared to a rush or flag, t. 11.. 13. (1.) It
grows up out of the mire and water. The hypo-
crite cannot gain his liope without some fa'sc rotten
ground or other, out of which to raise it, and with
which to support it and keep it alive, any more
than the rush can grow without mire. He gn und»
it on his worldly pn-sperity, the plausible profession
he makes of religion, the good opinion of his neigh-
bours, and his own good conceit of himself, which
are no solid foundation on which to build his confi-
dence. It is all but mire and water; -and the hope
that grows out of it, is but rush and flag. (2.) It
may look green and gay for a while, (the rush out-
grows the grass,) but it is light, and hollow, and
empty, and good for nothing. It is green for show,
but of no use. (3. ) It withers presently, before any
other herb, v. 12. Even while it is in its green-
ness, it is dried away, and gone in a little time.
Note, The best state of hypocrites and evil-doers
borders upon, withering; even when it is green, it
is going. The grass is cut down, and withers; (Ps.
xc. 6. ) but the rush is not cut down, and yet withers,
withers afore it grows up.; (Ps. cxxix. 6.) as it hps
no use, so it has no continuance. So are the paths
of all that forget God; {y. 13.) they take the same
way that the rush does, for the hypocrite's hopes
shall perish. Note, [1.] Forgetfulness of God is
at the bottom of men s hypocrisy, and of the vain
hopes with which they natter and deceive them-
selves in their hypocrisy. Men would not be hypo-
crites, if they did not forget that the God with
whom they have to do searches the heart, and re-
quires truth there; that he is a Spirit, and has his
eye on our spirits. Hypocrites could ha\ e no hope,
if they did not forget that God is righteous, and will
not be mocked with the torn and the lame. [2.]
The hope of hypocrites is a great cheat upon them-
selves, and though it may flourish a while, it will
certainly perish at last, and they with it.

2. They are here compared to a spider's web, or
a spider's house, as it is in the margin ; a cob-web,
V. 14,15. The hope of the hypocrite, (1.) Is woven
out of his own bowels; it is the creature of his own
fancy, and arises merely from a conceit of his own
merit and sufficiency. There is a great deal of dif-
ference between the work of the bee and that of the
spider; a diligent Christian, like the laborious bee,
fetches in all his comfort from the heavenly dews
of God's word; but the hypocrite, like the subtle
spider, weaves his out of a false hypothesis of his
own, concerning God, as if he were, altogether such
a one as himself. (2.) He is very fond of it, as the
spider of her web; pleases himself with it, wraps
himself in it, calls it his house, leans upoyi it, and
holds it fast. It is said of the spider, that she fo/cei-
hold with her hands, and is in ki?ig's pa faces, Prov
XXX. 28. So does a carnal worldling hug liimself
in the fulness and firmness of his outward prosperi-
ty; he prides himself in that house as his palace,
and fortifies himself in it as his castle, and makes use
of it as the spider of her web, to insnave those he
has a mind to prey upon. So does a formal profes-
sor; he flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not
of his salvation, is secure of heavenrand cheats th*
world with his vain confidences. (3.) It will easily
and certainly be swept away, as the cob-web with
the besom, when God shall come to purge his house.

JOB, IX.

49

The prosperity of worldly people will fail them,
■when they expect to find safety and happiness in it.
1'hey seek, to hold fast their estates, but God is
plucking them out of their hands; and whose shall
. those thi.igs be which they have provided? or what
the better will they be for them? The confidences
of hypocrites will fail them; I tell you, 1 know you
not. Tiie house built on the sand will fall in the
St ) n», wlicn the builder most needs it, and had
pr.jiii;.scd himself the benefit of it. When a wicked
man dien, Iha exfiectation fierishes. The ground of
his n pes will prove false; he will be disappointed
of tiio tning he hoped for, and his foolish hope, with,
which he buoyed himself up, will be turned into
endless despair; and thus his hope will be cut off,
h.s web, that refuge of lies, swept away, and he
crushed in it.

3. They are here compared to a flourishing and
well-rooted tree, which, though it do not wither of
itself, yet will easily be cut down, and its place
know it no more. The secure and prospeious sin-
ner may think himself wronged when he is com-
pared to a rush and a flag, he thinks he has a better
root; "We will allow him his conceit," (says Bil-
dad,) "and give him all the advantage he can de-
sire, and yet bring him in suddenly cut off." He is
here represented, as Nebuchadnezzar was in his
own dream, (Dan. iv. 10. ) by a great tree.

(1.) See this tree fair and flourishing, {y. 16.) like
a. green bay-tree, (Ps. xxxvii. 35.) green before the
sun, that keeps its greenness in defiance of the
scorching sun-beams, and his branch shoots forth
under the protection of his garden-wall, and with
the benefit of his garden-soil: see it fixed, and taking
deep root, never likely to be overthrown by stormy
winds, for his roots are interwoven with the stones;
(f. 17.) it grows infirm ground, not as the rush, in
mire and water. Thus does a wicked man, when
he prospers in the world, think himself secure; his
wealth is a high wall in his own conceit.

(2. ) See this tree felled and forgotten notwith-
standing; destroyed from his place, {v. 18. ) and so
entirely extirpated, that there shall remain no sign
or token where it grew; the very place shall say,
/ have not seen thee; and the standers by shall say
the same, 1 sought him, but he could not be found,
Ps. xxxvii. 36. He made a great show and a great
noise for a time, but he is gone of a sudden, and
neither root nor branch left him, Mai. i\ . 1. This
is the joy, that is, this is the end and conclusion, of
the wicked mail's way, {v. 19.) this is that which all
his joy comes to — 7'he way of the ungodly shall
fxensh, Ps. i. 6. His hope, he thought, would, in
the issue, be turned into joy, but this is the issue,
this is the joy, The harvest shall be a heap, in the
day of grief and of desperate sorrow, Isa. xvii. 11,
This iS the best ot it; and what then is the worst of
it? But shall he not leave a family behind him to
enjoy what he has? No, out of the earth, (not out of
his roots,) shall others grow, that are nothing akin
to him, and shall fill up his place, and rule over
that for which he laboured. Others, namely, of
the same spirit and disposition, shall grow up in his
place, and be as secure as ever he was, not warned
by his fail. The way of wordlings is their folly,
and yet there is a race of them that approve their
sayings, Ps. xlix. 13.

20. Behold, God will not cast away a
perfect 7?m7i, neither will he help the evil-
doers ; 21. Till he fill thy mouth with laugh-
ing, and thy lips with rejoicing. 22. They
that hate thee shall be clothed with shame;
and the dwelling-place of the wicked shall
come to nought.

Vol. III.— G

Bildad here, in the close of his discourse, sums
up what he had to say, in a few words, setting be-
fore Job life and death, the blessing and the curse;
assuring him, that as he was, so he should fare,
and therefore they might conclude, that as he fared,
so he was.

1. On the other hand, if he were a perfect upright
man, God would not cast him away, v. 20. Though
now he seemed forsaken of God, he would yet re-
turn to him, and, bv degrees, would turri his mourn-
ing into dancing, (Ps. XXX. 11.) and comforts should
flow in upon him so plentifully, that his mouth
should he filled with laughing, v. 21. So affecting
should the happy change be, Ps. cxxvi. 2. They
that loved him, would rejoice with him; but they
that hated him, and had triumphed in his fall,
would be ashamed of their insolence, when they
see him restored to his former prosperity. God
ivill not cast away c« ujjri^/ij mo/i ; he may be cast
down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for
ever; it is true, that, if not in this world, yet in
another, the mouth of the righteous shall be filled
with rejoicing. Though their sun should sit under
a cloud, yet it shall rise again clear, ne\ er more to
be clouded; though they go mourning to the grave,
that shall not hinder their entrance into the joy of
their Lord. It is true, that the enemies of 'the
saints will be clothed with shame, when they see
them crowned with honour. But it does not theie
tore follow, that, if Job were not perfectly restored
to his former prosperity, he forfeited the character
of a perfect man.

2. On the other hand, if he were a wicked man,
and an evil doer, God would not help him, but
leave him to perish in his present distresses; {v.
20.) and his dwelling-place should come to naught,
22. And here, also, it is true that God will not help
the evil-doers; thev throw themselves cut of his
protection, and forfeit his favour; he will jiot take
the ungodly by the hand, so it is in the margin, will
not have fellowship and communion with them;
for what communion between light and darkness?
He will not lend them his hand to pull them out of
the miseries, the eternal miseries, into which they
have plunged themselves; they will then stretch
out their hand to him for help, but it is too late, he
will not take them by the hand: Between us and
you there is a great gulf fixed. It is true, that the
dwelling-filace of the wicked, sooner or later, will
come to naught. Those only who make God their
dwelling-place, are safe forever, Ps. xc. 1. — xci. 1.
They who make other things their i*efuge, will be
disappointed. Sin brings ruin on persons and fami-
lies. Yet to argue, (as Bildad, I doubt, slily does,)
that because Job's family was sunk, and he himself,
at present, seemed helpless, therefore he certainly
was an ungodly wicked man, was neither just nor
charitable, as long as there appeared no other evi-
dence of his wickedness and ungodliness. Let us
judge nothing before the time, but wail till the se-
crets of all hearts shall be made manifest; and the
present difficulties of Providence be solved, to uni-
versal and everlasting satisfaction, when the mystery
of God shall be finished.

CHAP. IX.

in this, and the following chapter, we have Job's answer
to Bildad's discourse, %vherein he speaks honourably of
God, humbly of himself, and feelingly of his troubles;
but not one word by way of reflection upon his friends,
or their unkindness to him, nor in direct reply to what
Bildad had said. He wisely keeps to the merits of the
cause, and makes no remarks upon the person that
managed it, nor seeks occasion against him. In this
chapter, we have, I. The doctrine of God's justice laid
down, V. 2. II. The proof of it, from his wisdom, and
power, and sovereign dominion, v. 3.. 13. III. The
application of it, in which, K He condemns himself, as

>0

JOB, IX.

1.

not able to contend with God, either in law or battle, v.
14.. 21. 2. He maintains his point, that we cannot
judge of men's character by their outward condition, v.
22 . . 24. 3. He complains of the greatness of his
troubles, the confusion he was in, and the loss he was
at what to say or do, v. 26 . . 35.

HEN Job answered and said, 2. I

know it is so of a truth : but how
should man be just with God? 3. If he will
contend with him, he cannot answer him
one of a thousand. 4. He is wise in heart,
and mighty in strength: who hath hardened
himself against him, and hath prospered ?
5. Which removeth the mountains, and they
know not; which overturneth them in his
anger; 6. Which shaketh the earth out of
her place, and the pillars thereof tremble;
7. VVhich commandeth the sun, and it riseth
not, and sealeth up the stars; 8. Which
alone spreadeth out the heavens, and tread-
eth upon the waves of the sea ; 9. Which
maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and
the chambers of the south ; 1 0. Which doeth
great things past finding out, yea, and won-
ders without number. 1 1 . Lo, he goeth by
me, and I see him not ; he passeth on also,
but I perceive him not. 12. Behold, he
taketh away, who can hinder him? Who
will say unto him. What doest thou? 1 3, If
God will not withdraw his anger, the proud
helpers do stoop under him.

Bildad began with a rebuke to Job for talking so
much, ch. viii. 2. Job makes no answer to that,
though it had been easy enough to retort it upon
himself; but what he next lays down as his prin-
ciple, that God never perverts judgment, Job agrees
with him in, / know it is so of a (ruth, v. 2. Note,
VVe should be ready to own how far we agree with
those with whom we dispute, and we should nut
slight, much less resist, a truth, though produced
by an adversary, and urged against us, but receive it
in the light and love of it, though it ha\ e been mis-
applied. "Ids so of a truth, that wickedness brings
men to ruin, and the godly are taken under God's
special protection. These are truths which I sub-
scribe to; but how can any man make good his part
with God?" In his sight shall no Jiesh living be
justified, Ps. cxliii. 2. How should man be just
with God? Some understand this as a passionate
complaint of Goti's strictness and severity, that he
is a God whom there is no dealing with: and it
cannot be denied that there are, in this cliapter,
some peevish expressions, which seem to speak
such language as that. But I take this rather as a
pious confession of man's sinfulness, and his own in
particular, that if God should deal with any of us
according to the desert of our iniquities, we were
certainly undone.

I. He lays this down for a truth, that man is an
unequal match for his Maker, either in dispute or
combat.

1. In dispute; (v. 3.) If he tvill contend with him,
either at law or at an argument, he cannot answer
him one of a thousand. (1.) God can ;isk a thou-
sand puzzling questions, which those that quar-
rel with him, and arraign his proceedings, cannot
give an answer to. When God spake to Job out of
the whirlwind, he asked him a great many ques-
tions; Dost thou know this.* Camt thou do that?

To none of which Job could give an answer, ch.
xxx\iii. and xxxix. God can easily niunlebt the
folly of the greatest pretenders to wisdom. (2.)
God can lay to our charge a thousand offences, can
draw up against us a thousand articles of impeach-
ment, and we cannot answei- him so as to acquit
ourselves from the imputation of any of them, out
must, by silence, give consent that they aie all
true; we cannot set aside one as foreign, another as
frivolous, and another as false; we cannot, as to one,
deny the fact, and plead not guilty, and, as to ano-
ther, deny the fault, confess, and justify; no, we are
not able to answer him, but must lay our hand upot,
our mouth, as Job did, {ch. xl. 4, 5.) and cr\,
Guilty, Guilty.

2. In combat; {v. 4.) Who hath hardened himself
against him, and hath firosfiered? Tlie answer is
very easy; You cannot produce any instance, from
the beginning of the world to this day, of any during
sinner, who has hardened himself against God, has
obstinately persisted in rebellion against him, wlio
did not find God too hard for him, and pay dear for
his folly. They have not prospered or had peace;
they have had no comfort in it nor success. What
did ever man get by trials of skill, or trials of titles,
with his Maker? AH the opposition given to Gcd,
is but setting briers and thorns before a consuming
fire; so foolish, so fruitless, so destructive, is the
attempt, Isa. xxvii. 4. 1 Cor. x. 22. Apostate
angels hardened themselves against God, but did
not prosper, 2 Pet. ii. 4. The dragon fights, but is
cast out. Rev. xii. 8. Wricked men harden them-
selves against God, dispute his wisdom, disobey his
laws, are impenitent for their sins, and incorrigible,
under their afflictions; they reject the offers of his
grace, and resist the strivings of his Spirit; they
make nothing of his threatenings, and make head
against his interest in the world; but have they
prospered? Can they prosper? No, they are but
treasuring ufi for themselves wrath agaijist the day
of wrath. They that roll this stone, will find it
return upon them.

II. He proves it by showing what a God he is,
with whom we have to do: He is ivise in heart, and
therefore we cannot answer him at law; he is mighty
m strejigth, and therefore we cannot fight it out
with him. It is the greatest madness that can be,
to think to contend with a God of infinite wisdom
and power, who knows every thing, and can do
every thing; who can be neither outwitted nor over-
powered. The Devil promised himself that Job,
in the day of his affliction, would curse God, and
speak ill of him, but, instead of tliat, he sets him-
self to honour God, and to speak highly of him.
As much pained as he is, and as much taken up
with his own miseries, when he has occasion to
mention the wisdom and power of God, he forgets
his complaints, dwells with delight, and expatiates
with a flood of eloquence, upon that noble useful
subject.

Evidences of the wisdom and power of God he
fetches,

1. From the kingdom of nature, in which the God
of nature acts with an uncontrollable power, and
does what he pleases; for all the orders and all the
powers of nature are derived from him, and depend
upon him.

(1.) When he pleases, he alters the course of na-
ture, and turns back its streams, v. 5"7. By the
common law of nature, the mountains are settled,
and are therefore called everlasting mountains; the
earth is established, and cannot be removed, (Ps.
xciii. 1.) and the pillars thereof are immoveably
I fixed, the sun rises in its season, and the stars shcci
j their influences on this lower world ; but, when
' God pleases, he can not only drive out of tlie com
1 nion track, but inveit the order, and change the

JOB, IX.

51

law, of nature. [1.] Nothing more firm than the
mountains: when we speak, of removing mountains,
•we mean that which is impossible; yet the divine
power can make them change their seat; he removes
them, and they know not; removes them whether
they will or no; he can make them lower their
heads; he can level them, and overturn them in his
ajiger; he can spread the mountains as easily as the
husbandman spreads the mole-hills, be they ever so
high, and large, and rocky. Men have nmch ado
to pass over them; but God, when he pleases, can
make them pass away. He made Sinai shake, Ps.
Ixviii. 8. The hills skijificd, Ps. cxiv. 4. The
everlasting rnoioitains ivere scattered, Hab. iii. 6.
[2.] Nothing more fixed than the earth on its axle-
tree; yet God can, when he pleases, shake that out
of its place, heave it oft" its centre, and make even
its pillars t > tremble; what seemed to support it,
will itself need support, when God gi\ es it a shock.
See h((W much we are indebted to God's patience;
(iud lias power enougli to shake the earth from
ur.dei- that guilty race of mankind, which makes it
groan under the burthen of sin, and so to shake the
ivicked out of it; {ch. xxxviii. 13.) yet he continues
the earth, and man upon it, and makes it not still,
as once, to swallow up the rebels. [3.] Nothing
more constant than the rising sun, it never misses
its appointed time; yet God, when he pleases, can
suspend it. He that at first commanded it to rise,
can countermand it. Once the sun was bid to stand,
iii'.d anotlier time to retreat, to show that it is still
under the check of its great Creator. Thus great
is (iod's power; and how great then is his goodness,
which causes his sun to shine even upon the evil
and unthankful, though he could withhold it! He
that made the stars also, can, if lie pleases, seal
tliem up, and hide them from our eyes. By earth-
quakes, and subterraneous fires, mountains have
sometimes been removed, and the earth shaken:
in very dark and cloudy days and nights, it seems
to us as if the sun were forbidden to rise, and the
stars were sealed up. Acts xxvii. 20. It is sufficient
to say, that Job here speaks of what God can do;
but if we must understand it of what he has done in
fact, all these verses may perhaps be applied to
Noah's flood, when the mountains of the eai'th were
shaken, and the sun and stars were darkened. The
world that now is, we believe to be reserved for that
fire which will consume the mountains, and melt
the earth with its fervent lieat, and which will turn
the sun into darkness.

(2.) As long as he pleases, he preserves the settled
course and order of nature; and this is a continued
creation. He himself alone, by his own power, and
without the assistance of any other, [1.] S/ireads
out the heaven; {v. 8. ) not only did spread them out
at first, but still spreads them out, that is, keeps
them spread out; for otherwise they would of them-
selves roll together like a scroll of parchment. [2. ]
He (reads u/ion the roaves of the sea; that is, he
suppresses them and keeps them under, that they
return not to deluge the earth; (Ps. civ. 9.) which
is gi\en as a reason why we should all fear God, and
stand in awe of him, Jer. v. 22. He is mightier than
the proud waves, Ps. xciii. 4. — Ixv. 7. [3.] He
makes the constellations; three are named for all
the rest, {v. 9.) Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and,
in general, the chambers of the south: the stars of
which these are composed, he madeat first, and put
into tliat order, and he still makes them, preserves
them in being, and guides their motions; he makes
them to be what they are to man, and inclines the
hearts of men to observe them, which the beasts are
not capable of doing. Not only those stars which
we see and give names to, but those also in the other
hemisphere, about the antarctic pole, which never
come in our sight, called here the chambers of the

south, are under the divine direction and dominion.
How wise is he then, and how mighty!

2. Evidences are here fetched from the kingdom
of Providence, that special Providence which is
conversant about the affairs of the children of men.
Consider what God does in the government of the
world, and you will say. He is wise in heart, aJid
mighty in strength,

(1. ) He does many things and great, many and
great to admiration, v. 10. Job here says the same
that Eliphaz had said; {ch. v. 9.) and, in the origi-
nal, in the very same words, not declining to speak
after him, though now his antagonist. God is a great
God, and doeth great things, a wonder-working
God; his works of wonder are so many that we can-
not number them, and so mysterious that we cannot
find them out. O the depth of his counsels!

(2.) He acts invisibly and undiscerned, Tc. 11. He
goes by me in his operations, and I see him not, I
perceive him not; his way is in the sea, Ps. lxx\ ii.
19. The operations of second causes are common-
ly obvious to sense, but God doeth all about us, and
yet we see him not. Acts xvii. 23. Our finite under-
standings cannot fathom his counsels, apprehend his
motions, or comprehend the measures he takes.
We are therefore incompetent judges of God's pro-
ceedings, because we know not what he doeth, or
what he designeth. The arcana imfierii — secrets
of government, are things above us, which therefore
we must not pretend to expound, or comment upon.

(3.) He acts with an incontestable sovereignty,
V. 12. He takes away our creature-comforts and
confidences, when and as he pleases, takes away
health, estate, relations, friends, takes away life
itself; whatever goes, it is he that takes it; by what
hand soever it is removed, his hand must be ac-
knowledged in it; the Lord takes away, and who
can hinder him? Whocan turn him away? Marg.
Who shall make him. restore? So some. Who can
dissuade him, or alter his counsels.-* Who can re-
sist him, or oppose his operations? Who can con-
trol him, or call him to an account for it? What
action can be brought against him? Or who will say
unto him, JlTiat dost thou? Or, Why dost thou so?
D m. iv. 35. God is not obliged to give us a reason
of what he doeth. The meaning of his proceedings
we know not now; it will be time enough to know
hereafter, when it will appear that what seemed
now to be done by prerogative, was done in infinite
wisdom, and for the best.

(4.) He acts with an irresistible power, which
no creature can resist, v. 13. If God will not with-
draw his anger, (which he can do when he pleases,
for he is Lord of his anger, lets it out, or calls it in,
according to his will,) the firoud helpers do stoop
under him; that is. He certainly breaks and crushes
those that proudly help one another against him;
proud men set themselves against God and his pro-
ceedings; in this opposition they join hand in hand.
l^ie kings of the earth set themselves, and the
rulers take counsel together, to throw off his yoke,
to run down his truths, and to persecute his people;
Men of Israel, hel/i. Acts xxi. 28. Ps. Ixxxiii. 8. If
one enemy of God's kingdom fall under his judgment,
the rest come proudly to help that, and think to
deliver that out of his hand: but in vain; unless he
pleases to withdraw his anger, (which he often does,
for it is the day of his patience,) the proud helpers
stoop under him, and fall with those whom they de-
signed to help. Who knows the power of God's
anger? They who think they have strengtii
enough to help others, will not be able to help them-
selves against it.

14. How much less shall I answer him,
rntd choose out my words to reason with him?
15. Whom, though I were righteous, yet

JOB, IX.

would I not answer, hut I would make sup-
plication to my Judge. 16. If I had called,
and he had answered me : yet would I not
believe that he had hearkened unto ray voice.
1 7. For he breaketh me with a tempest, and
multiplieth my wounds without cause. 1 8.
He will not suffer me to take my breath, but
filleth me with bitterness. 19. If 7 speak of
strength, \o,he is strong : and if of judgment,
who shall set me a time fo plead? 20. Jf 1
justify myself, mine own mouth shall con-
demn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall al-
so prove me perverse. 21. Though I ivere
perfect, yet would I not know my soul : I
would despise my life.

What Job had said of man's utter inability to con-
tend with God, he here apjilies to himself, and, in
effect, despairs of gaining his favour; which (some
think) arises from the hard thoughts he had of God,
as one who, having set himself against him, right or
wrong, would be too hard for him. I rather think
it arises from the sense he had of the imperfection
of his own righteousness, and the dark and cloudy
apprehensions which, at present, he had of God's
displeasure against him.

I. He dares not dispute with God; (v. 14.) "If
the firoud helfiers do stoop, under him, hoiv much
less shall I, a poor weak creature, (so far from being
a helper, that I am very helpless,) hoiv shall I an-
swer him? What can I say against that wliit h God
doeth? If I go about to reason with him, he will
certainly be too hard for me. " If th.e potter make
■the clay into a vessel of dishonour, or breik in
pieces the vessel he has made, shall the clay or the
broken vessel reason with him? So absurd is the
man who replies against God, or thinks to talk it
out with him. No, let all flesh be silent before him.

II. He dares not insist upon his own justification
before God. Though he vindicated his own integ-
rity to his friends, and would not yield thut he was
a hypocrite and a wicked man, as they suggested,
yet he would never plead it as his righteousness be-
fore God. I will never venture upon the covenant
of innocency, nor think to come oflPby virtue of that

job knew so much of God, and knew so much of
himself, that he durst not insist upon his own justi-
fication before God.

1. He knew so much of God, that he durst not
stand a trial with him, t. 15. 19. He knew how to
make his part good with his friends, and thought
himself able to deal with them; but, though his
cause had been better than it was, he knew it was
to no purpose to debate it with God.

(1.) God knew him better than he knew himself;
and therefore, {v. 15.) "Though I were righteous
in my own apprehension, and my own heart did not
condemn me, yet God is greater than my heart, and
knows those secret faults and errors of mine which
I donot, and cannot, understand, and is able to charge
me with them, and therefore I will not answer." St.
Paul speaks to the same purport; / know nothing
by myself, am not conscious to myself of any reign-
ing wickedness, and yet lam not hereby justified,
1 Cor. iv. 4. " I dare not put myself upon that issue,
lest God charge that upon me which I did not dis-
cover in myself. " .lob will therefore waive that plea,
and make sufifilication to his Judge; that is, will cast
himself upon God's mercy, and not think to come
off bv his own merit.

(2.) He had no reason to think that there was
anv thing in his prwc'-s to recommend them to the
divine acceptance, or to fetch in an answer of peace;

no worth or worthiness at all, to which to ascribe
their success; but it must be attributed purely to tlie
grace and compassion of God, who answers befjre
we call, and not because we call, and gives gracio.s
answers to our prayers, but not jTo?- our prayers, v.
16. " If I had called, and he had answered, had
given the thing I called to him for, yet, so weak and
defective are my best prayers, that I would not be-
lieve he had therein hearkened to my voice; I covild
not say that he had saved with his right /land, mid
answered me," (Ps. Ix. 5.) " but that he did it pure-
ly for his own name's sake." BislK)p Patiick ex-
pounds it thus; "If I had made buppli Hiion, j.nd he
had granted my desire, I wiiuld n(,t think n\y pr .ytr
had done the business." JVot for your ■•^akes be it
known to you.

(3.) His present miseries, which God had Ijn u;.>ht
him into, notwithstanding his integrity, gave liun
too sensible a conviction, that, in the ordLrini^- iii.d
disposing of men's outward condition in th b world,
God acts by sovereignty, and tliough he ucn cr doth
wrong to any, yet he doth not e\ er give full u:^iit
to all; that is, the best do not always fare best, in r
the worst fare worst, in this life, because he le-
serves the full and exact d'stribution of rewards ;ind
punishments for the future state. Job was not c n-
scious to himself of any extraordinary guilt, and \et
fell under extraordinary afflictions, v. \7 , 18. Every
man must expect the wind to blow upon him, :i)id
ruffle him, but Job was broken with a tempest;
every man, in the midst of these tin rns and briers,
must expect to be scratched, but Job was wounded,
and his wounds multiplied. Every man must ex-
pect a cross daily, and to taste sometimes of the
bitter cup; but poor Job's troubles c n.e so thick
up' n him, that he had no breathing time, he was
filled with bitterness; and he presumes to say that
all this was without cause, without any great ])ro-
vocation given. We have made the best of what
Job said hitherto, though contrary to thp judgment
of many good interpreters; but here, no doubt, he
sfiake unadvisedly with his li/is; he i-eflected on
God's goodness, in saying that he was not s\iffej-ed
to take his breath, while yet he hid such good use
of his reason and speech to be able to talk thus; and
on his justice, in saying that it was without cause.
Yet it is true, that, as, on the one hand, there are
many who are chargeable with moie sin than the
common infirmities of the human nature, and yet
feel no more sorrow than that of the common calami-
ties of human life; so, on the other hand, there are
many who feel more than the common calamities of
human life, and yet are conscious to themselves of
no more than the common infiimities of human
nature.

(4.) He was in no capacity at : 11 t" make his part
good with God, v. 19. [1.] Not by force of arms;
"I dare not enter the lists of the Almighty; for, if
I speak of strength, and think to come off by that,
lo, he is strong; stronger than I, and will rertninly
overpower me." There is no disputing (said' one
once to Csesar) with him that commands legions;
much less with him that his legions of angels at
command. Can thine heart endure, (thy courage
and presence of mind,) or can thine hands be strong
to defend thyself, in the days that I shall deal with
thee? Ezek. xxii. 14. [2.] Not by force of anv >-
ments: " I dare not try the merirs of the cause; if I
speak of judgment, and insist upon my right, who
will set me a time to plead? There i.s no higher
power to which I may appeal, no superior court to
appoint a hearing of the cause, for He is supreme,
and from Him every man's judgment proceeds,
which he must abide by."

2. He knew so much of himself, that he durst no'
stand a trial, v. 20, 21. "If I go about to justify
mvself, and to plead arigh*eousnc?s of my own, my

JOB, IX.

53

defence will be my offence; and mme own mouth
«'/ ./(' coiiilf-ntn me, even when it goes about to ac-
quit me." A good man, who knows the deceitful-
ness of his own heart, and is jealous over it with a
g'^d y je lio sy, and h.is often discovered that amiss
tiierc, wiicli had long lain undiscovered, is suspi-
cious of more evil in himself than he is really con-
scious of, and therefore will Ijy no means think, of
justifying himself before God. If we say, "We
liave no sin," we not only deceive oui'selves, but
we aff out God, for we sin in sayingso, and give the
lie to die scripture, which has concluded all under sin.
"If I s.iy, I am perfect, I am sinless, God has
nothing to lay to my charge, my very sayingso shall
prove me perverse, proud, ignorant, and presump-
tu us. Nay, though I were perfect, though God
suould pronounce ine just, yet would I not know
my soul; I would not be in care about the prolong-
ing of my life, while it is loaded with all these mi-
series." Or, " Though I were free from gross sin,
though my conscience should not charge me with
any enormous crime, yet would I not believe my
own heart so far as to insist upon my innocency, nor
think my life worth striving for with God." In
short, it is folly to contend with God, and our wis-
dom, as well as duty, to submit to him, and throw
ourselves at his feet.

22. Tliis is one things therefore f said z7,
He destroyetli the perfect and the wicked.
23. If the scourge slay suddenly, he will
laugh at the trial of the innocent. 24. The
earth is given into the hand of the wicked :
he covereth the faces of the judges thereof;
if not, where, and who is he ?

Here Job touches briefly upon the main point now
in dispute between him and his friends. They main-
tained that those who are righteous and good always
prosper m this world, and none but the wicked are
in misery and distress; he asserted, on the contrary,
that it is a common thing for the wicked to prosper,
and the righteous to be greatly afflicted: this is the
one thing, the chief thing, wherein he and his friends
differed; and they had not proved their assertion;
therefore he abides by his; " I said it, and say it
again, that all things come alike to all."

Now it must be owned,

1. That there is very much truth in what Job
here means; that temporal judgments, when they
are, set abroad, fall both upon good and bad, and
the destroying angel seldom distinguishes (though
once he did) between the houses of the Israelites
and the houses of the Egyptians.

In the judgment of Sodom, indeed, which is call-
ed the vengeance of eternal Jire, (Jude vii. ) far be
it from (iod to slay the righteous with the wicked,
arid that the righteous should be as the wicked;
(Gen. xviii. 25.) but in judgments merely temporal
the riirhteous have their share, and sometimes the
K''eatest sh ire. The sword devours one as well as
anotlier, Jnsiah as well as Ahab. Thus God de-
Kfrmis the perfect and the wicked, involves them
both in the same common ruin; good and bad were
sent together into Babylon, Jer. xxiv. 5, 9. If the
scourge slay suddenly, and sweep down all before
It, God will be well pleased to see how the same
Ncouree, which is the perdition of the wicked, is the
trial of the innocent, and of their faith, which will
he found unto firaUte, and honour, and glory, 1 Pet.
1. 7. ^'s. Ixvi. 10.

Against the just tli' Almighty's arrows fly,
For he delisihif! ihp innocehl to try :
To show their constant and their God-iike mind,
Not by afflictions broken, but refin'd.

Sir R. Blackuore

Let this reconcile God's children to their trou-
bles; they are but trials, designed for their honour
and benefit; and, if God be pleased with them, let
not them be displeased; if he laugh at the trial of
the innocent, knowing how glorious the issue of it
will be, at destruction and famine let them also
laugh, {ch. V. 22. ) and triumph over them, saying,
O death, where is thy sting!

On the other hand, the wicked are so far from
being made the marks of God's judgments, that the
earth is given into their hand, v. 24. They enjoy
large possessions and great power, have what they
will, and do what they will. Into the hand of (he
wicked o)ie: in the original, it is singular; the Devil,
that wicked one, is called the god of this world, and
boasts that into his hands it is delivered, Luke iv. 6.
Or, into the hand of a wicked man, meaning (as
Bishop Patrick and the Assembly's Annotations
conjecture) some noted tyrant then living in those
parts, whose great wickedness and great prosperity
were well known both to Job and his friends. The
wicked have the earth given them, but the righte-
ous have heaven given them; and which is better —
heaven without earth, or earth without heaven?
God, in his providence, advances wicked men,
while he covers the faces of those who are fit to be
judges, who are wise and good, and qualified for
government, and buries them alive in obscurity;
perhaps suffers them to be run down and condemn-
ed, and to have their faces covered as criminals, by
those wicked ones into whose hand the earth is
given. We daily see this is done; if it be not God
that doeth it, where and who is he that doeth it?
To whom can it be ascribed but to Him that rules
in the kingdoms of men, and gives them to whom
he will? Dan. iv. 32.

2. Yet it must be owned that there is too much
passion in what Job here says. The manner of ex-
pression is peevish: when he meant that God afflicts,
he ought not to have said. He destroys both the
perfect and the wicked: when he meant that God
pleases himself with the trial of the innocent, he
ought not to ha\ e said. He laughs at it, for he doth
not afflict willingly. When the spirit is heated,
either with dispute or with discontent, we have
need to set a watch before the door of our lips, that
we may observe decorum in speaking of divine
things.

25. Now my days are swifter than a post :
they flee away, they see no good. 26. They
are passed away as the swift ships; as the
eagle that hasteth to the prey. 27. If I say,
I will forget my complaint, I will leave ofif
my heaviness, and comfort myself; 28. I
am afraid of all my sorrows, 1 know that
thou wilt not hold me innocent. 29. If I
be wicked, why then labour I in vain? 30.
If I wash myself with snow-water, and
make my hands never so clean; 31. Yet
shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine
own clothes shall abhor me. 32. For he is
not a man, as I am, that I should answer
him, and we should come together in judg-
ment. 33. Neither is there any days-man
betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us
both. 34. Let him take his rod away from
me, and let not his fear terrify me; 35.
Then would I speak, and not fear him : but
it is not so with me.

Job here grows more and more querulous, and

54

JOB, IX.

does not conclude this chapter with such awful ex-
pressions of God's wisdom and justice as he began
with. They that indulge a complaining humour,
know not to what indecencies, nay to what impie-
ties, it will hurry them. The beginning of that
strife with God is as the letting forth of water;
therefore leave jt off, before it be meddled with.
When we are in trouble, we are allowed to com-
plain to God, as the Psalmist, often, but must by
no means complain q/God, as Job here.

I. His complaint here of the passing away of the
days of his prosperity is proper; {y. 25, 26.) "My
days, that is, all my good days, are gone, never to
return; gone of a sudden, gone ere I was aware:
never did any courier that went express," (like
Cushi and Ahimaaz,) "with good tidings, make
such haste as all my comforts did from me; ne\er
d'.d ship sail to its port, never did eagle fly upon his
l)rey, with such incredible swiftness; nor does there
1 emain any traces of my prosperity, any more than
there does of an eagle, in the air, or a ship in the
sea," Prov. xxx. 19. See here, 1. How swift the
motion of time is; it is always upon the wing, h; s-
tening to its period; it stays for no man. What lit-
tle need have we of pastimes, and what great need
to redeem time, when time runs out, runs on so
fast towards eternity, which comes as time goes!
2. How vain the enjoyments of time are, which we
may be quite deprived of while yet time continues!
Our day may be lou; er than the sun-shine of our
prosperity; and when that is gone, it is as if it had
not been. The remembrance of having done our
duty will be pleasing afterward; so will not the re-
membrance of our having got a great deal of world-
ly wealth, when it is all lost and gone. They flee
away, past recall; they see no good, andlea\e none
behind them.

n. His complaint of his present uneasiness is ex-
cusable, V. '27, 28. 1. It should seem he did his
endeavour to quiet and compose himself, as his
friends advised him. Tliat was the good he would
do: he would fain forget his complaints and praise
God, would leave off his heaviness and comfort him-
self, that he might be fit for converse both with
'iod and man; but, 2. He found he could not do it;
" I am afraid of all my sorrows; then when I strive
most against my trouble, it prevails most over me,
and proves too hard for me!" It is easier, in such
a case, to know what we should do than to do it; to
know what temper we should be in than to get into
that temper, and keep in it. It is easy to preach
patience to those that are in trouble, and to tell them
they must forget their complaints, and comfort
themselves; but it is not so soon done as said. Fear
and sorrow are tyrannizing things, not easily brought
into the subjection they ought to be kept in to reli-
gion and right reason.

III. But his complaint of God, as implacable and
inexorable, was by no me;ins to be excused. It was
the language of his corruption. He knew better
things, and, at another time, would ha\ e been far
from harbouring any such hard thoughts of God as
now broke in upon his spirit, and broke out in these
passionate complaints. Good men do not always
speak like themselves; but God considers their
frame, and the strength of their temptations; gives
them leave afterward to imsay it by repentance,
and will not lay it to their charge.

Job seems to speak here,

1. As if he despaired of obtaining from God any
relief or redress of his grievances, though he should
produce ever so good proofs of his integrity; "/
know thou ivilt not hold me innocent; my afflictions
have continued so long upon me, and increased so
fast, that I do not expect thou wilt ever clear up
my innocency by delivering me out of them, and
restoring me to a prosperous condition. Right or

wrong, I must be treated as a wicked man; my
friends will continue to think so of me, and God will
continue upon me the afflictions which give them
occasion to think so; why then do I labour in \ ain
to clear myself, and maintain my own integrity.''"
V. 29. It is to no purpose to speak in a cause that
is already pre-judgcd. With men it is often labour
in \ ain for the most innocent to go about to clear
themselves; they must be adjudged guilty, though
the evidence be ever so plain for them: but it is not
so in cur dealings with Gcd, who is the Patron cf
oppressed innocency, and to whom it was never in
vain to commit a rightecus cause.

Nay, he not only despairs of relief, but expects
that his endeavour to clear himself would render
him yet more obnoxious; {y. 30, 31.) " Jf I wash
myself with snow-water, and make my integrity
ever so evident, it will be all to no purpose, judg-
ment must go against me, thou shalt plunge me in
the ditch," (the pit of destruction, so some, or rather
the filthy kennel, or sewer,) "which will make me
so oftensi\e in the nostrils of all about me, that my
own cli thes shall abhor me, and I-shall even loathe
to touch myself." He saw his afflictions coming
from God, those were the things that blackened
him in the eye of his friends, and, upon that score,
he complained of them, and of the continuance of
them, as the ruin, not only of his comfoit, but of
his reputation. Yet these words are capable of a
good consti'uction. If we be ever so industrious to
justify oui sel\ es before men, and to preserve cur
credit with them, if we keep our hands ever so
clean from the pollutions of gross sin, which fall
under the eye of the world; yet God; who knows
our hearts, can charge us with so much secret sin
as will for ever take off" all our pretensions to purity
and innocency, and make us see ourselves odious in
the sight of the holy God. Paul, while a Pharisee,
made his hands very clean; but when the c( m-
mandment came, and discovered to him his heart-
sins, made him know lust, that /ilunged him in the
ditch.

2. As if he despaired to have so much as a fair
hearing with God, and that were hard indeed.

(1.) Hecomplainsthat he wasnotupon even terms
with God; (r. 32.) " He is not a man, as I am. I
could venture to dispute with a man like myself,
(the potsherds may stri\ e with the potsherds rf the
earth,) but he is infinitely abo\e me, and thevef< re
I dare not enter the lists with him, I shall certainly
be cast off"if I contend with him." Note, [1.] God
is not a man as we are. Of the greatest princes we
may say, "They are men .is we are," but net of
the great God. His thoughts and ways are infi-
nitely above ours, and we must not measure l-.im
by ourselves. Man is foolish and weak, frail and
fickle, Ijut God is not. We are depending, (h'ing.
creatures; he the independent and immortal Crea-
tor. [2.] The consideration of this should keep us
\ ery low, and very silent, before God. Let us not
make ourselves equal with God, 'but always eye
him as infinitely above us.

(2.) That there was no arbitrator or umpire to
adjust the differences between him and God, and
to determine the controversy; (z'. 55.) A'either is
there any daysman. This complaint that there
was not, is, in effect, a wish that there were, and
so the LXX read it; O that there were a mediator
between us! Job would gladly refer the matter,
but no creature was capable of being a referee, and
therefore he must even refer it still to God himself,
and resolve to acquiesce in his judgment. Our Lord
Jesus is the blessed Daysman, who has mediated
between Heaven and earth, has laid his hand upon
us both; tn him the Father has committed all judg
ment, and we must: but this nvtter was not then
l.rought to so clear a light as it is now by the gi s-

JOB, X.

55

pel, which leaves no room for such a conij)laini ;»»
tliih.

(3.) That the tevnjrs of God, uhich set them-
selves in array against him, put him into such con-
fusion, that lie knew not h( w to address himself to
God with the confident e with which he was ft)r-
merly wont to approach hiiTi; {v. 34, 35.) "Beside
the distance which I am kept at by his infinite
transcendency, his present dealings with me are
very discouraging. LcC him take his rod away frovi
me:" he me.\ns not so much his outward afflictions,
as the loud which lay upon his spirit from the ap-
prehensions of (iod's wrath; tiuit was his fear which
terrified liim: " Let that be lemovcd, let me reco-
ver the sight of his mercy, and not be amazed with
the sight of nothing but his terrors, and then I would
speak, and order my cause before him. But it is
not so with me, the cloud does not at all scatter,
the wrath of God still fastens upon me, and preys
on my spirits, as much as ever; and what to do I
kno,w not."

From all this let us take occasion, [1.] To stand
in awe of God, and to fear the power of his wrath.
If ^ood men hive been put into such consternation
by it, nuhere shall the zingodly and the aimier afi-
fieur? [2.] To pity th<jse that are wounded in
spirit, and pray earnestly for them, because in that
condition they know not how to pray for themselves.
[3.] Carefully to keep up good thoughts of God in
our minds, for hard thoughts of him are the inlets
of much mischief. [4.] To bless God that we are
not in such a disconsolate condition as poor Job was
here in, but that we walk in the light of the Lord;
let us rejoice therein, but rejoice with trejiibling.

CHAP. X.

Job owns here that he was full of confusion; (v. 15.) and
as he was, so was his discourse: he knew not what to
say, and' perhaps sometimes scarcely knew what he said.
In this chapter, I. He complains of the hardships he was
under; (v. 1 . . 7.) and then comforts himself with this,
that he was in the hand of the God that made him, and
pleads that, v. 8 . . 13. II. He complains again of the
severity of God's dealings with him, (v. 14. . 17.) and
then comforts himself with this, that death would put an
end to his troubles, v. 18 . . 22.

1 . 1%/rY soul is weary of my life : I will
XTJL leave my complaint upon myself;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2.
I will say unto God, Do not condemn me ;
show me wherefore thou contendest with
me. 3. Is it good unto thee that thou
shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest de-
spise the work of thy hands, and shine upon
the counsel of the wicked? 4. Hast thou
eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
5, Are thy days as the days of man? are
thy years as man's days? 6. That thou
inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest
after my sin? 7. Thou knowest that I am
not wicked ; and there is none that can de-
liver out of thy hand.

Here is,

I. A passionate resolution to persist in his com-
plaint, V. 1. Being daunted vvith the dread of God's
majesty, so that he could not plead his cause with
him, he resolves to give himself some ease by giving
vent to his resentments. He begins with vehement
language, " Aly soul is weary of my life, weary of
this body, and impatient to get clear of it, fallen out
with life, and displeased at it, sick of it, and longing
for death." Through the weakness of grace, he

Went contrary to the dictates even of nature itself
\\'e slKHild act more like men, did we act more
like sdin:s: faith and patience would keep us from
being weary of our li\es, (and cruel to them, as
some I'cad it,) even then when Providence has
made them niost wearisome to us; for that is to be
weary of (iod's correction. Job, being weary of his
life, and having ease no other way, resolves to coir,-
plain, resoh es to speak: he will not give vent to his
soul by violent hands, but he will give vent to the
bitterness of his soul by \iolent words. Losers
think they may have leave to speak; and unbi idled
passions, as well as unbridled appetites, are apt to
think it an excuse for their excursions, that they
cannot help it; but what have we wisdom and grace
for, but to keep the mouth as with a bridle.^ Job's
corruption speaks here, yet grace puts in a word:
1. He will complain, but he will leave his com-
jjlaint upon himself: he would not impeach God,
nor charge him with unrighteousness or unkindness;
but, though he knew not particularly the ground ct
God's controversy with him, and the cause of ac-
tion, yet, in the general, he would suppc'se it to be
in himself, and willingly bear all the blame. 2. He
will speak, but it shall be the bitterness of his soul
that he will express, not his settled judgment. If
I speak amiss, it is not 1, but sin that dwells in me.
not my soul, but its bitterness.

U. A humble petition to God. He will speak,
but tlie first word shall be a prayer, and, as I am
willing to understand it, it is a good prayer, v. 2.
1. That he might be delivered from the sting of his
afflictions, which is sin; "Do not condemn me, do
not separate me for ever from thee. Though I lie
under the cross, let me not lie under the curse;
though I smart by the rod of a Father, let me not
be cut off by the sword of a Judge. Thou dost cor-
rect me, I will bear that as well as I can, but O do
not condemn me!" It is the comfort of those who
are in Christ Jesus, that, though they are in afflic-
tion, there is no condemnation to them, Rom. viii.
1. Nay, they are chastened of the Lord, that they
may not be co7idemned with the world, 1 Cor. xi.
32. This, therefore, we should deprecate above
any thing else, when we are in affliction; "How-
ever thou art pleased to deal with me. Lord, do not
condemn me; my friends condemn me, but do not
thou. " 2. That he might be made acquainted with
the true cause of his afflictions, and that is sin too;
Lord, shovj me wherefore thou contendest with me.
When God afflicts us, he contends with us; when he
contends with us, there is always a reason. He is
never angry without a cause, though we are, and it
is desirable to know what the reason is, that we may
repent of, nv rtify, and forsake, the sin for which
God has a controversy with us: in inquiring it out,
let conscience have leave to do its office, and to deal
faithfully with us, as Gen. xlii. 21.

III. A peevish expostulation with God concern-
ing his dealings with him. Now he speaks in the
bitterness of his soul indeed, not without some ill-
natured reflections upon the righteousness of his
God.

1. He thinks it unbecoming the goodness of God,
and the mercifulness of his nature, to deal so hardlv
with his creature, as to lay upon him more than he
can bear; (i-. 3.) Js it good unto thee that thou
shouldest oppress? No, certainly it is not; what he
approves not in men, (Lam. iii, 34.. 36.) he will not
do himself. '* Lord, in dealing with me, thou secm-
est to oppress thy subject, to despise thy workman-
ship, and to countenance thine enemies. Now,
Lprd, what is the meaning of this.'* Such is thy na-
ture, that this cannot be a pleasure to thee; and
such is thy name, that it cannot be an hrnour to
thee; why then dealest thou thus with me? What
*}r'Jlt is there in my blood?" Far be it from Job tc

56

JOB, X.

think that God did him wrong, but he is quite at a
loss how to reconcile his providences with his jus-
tice, as good men have often been, and must wait
until the day shall declare it. Let us, therefore,
now hai'bour no hard thoughts of God, because we
shall then see there was no cause for them.

2. He thinks it unbecoming the infinite know-
ledge of God to put a prisoner thus upon the rack,
as it were, by torture, to extort a confession from
him, V. 4«»6.

(1.) He is sure that God does not discover things,
nor judge of them, as men do; he has not eyes of
Jlesh, {-v. 4. ) for he is a Spirit. Eyes of flesh can-
not see in the dark, but darkness hides not from
God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place at a time,
and can see but a little way; but the eyes of the
Lord are in every filace, and run to and fro
through the whole earth. Many things are hid
from eyes of flesh, the most curious and piercing;
there is a fxath which even the vulture's eye hath not
seen: but nothing is, or can be, hid from the eye of
God, to which all things are naked and open. Eyes
of flesh see the outward appearance only, and may
be imposed upon, a decefitio visus — an illusion of the
senses; but God sees every thing truly; his sight
cannot be deceived, for he tries the heart, and is a
Witness to the thoughts and intents of that. Eyes
of flesh discover things gradually, and when we
gain the sight of one thing, we lose the sight of an-
other, but God sees every thing at one view. Eyes
of flesh are soon tired, must be closed e\ ery night,
that they may be refreshed, and will shortly be
darkened by age, and shut up by death, but the
Keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor
does his sight ever decay. God sees not as man sees;
that is, he does not judge as man judges, at the best
secundum allegata et probata — according to what
.is alleged and proved, as the thing appears, rather
than as it is, and too often according to the bias of
the affections, passions, prejudices, and interest;
but we are sure that the judgment of God is accord-
ing to truth, and that he knows truth, not by infor-
mation, but by his own inspection. Men discover
secret things by search, and examination of wit-
nesses, comparing evidence and giving conjectures
upon it, wheedling or forcing the parties concerned
to confess. But God needs not any of these ways of
discovery, he sees not as man sees.

(2.) He is sure that, as God is not short-sighted,
like man, so he is not short-lived ; (v. 5. ) " jire thy
days as the days of man, few and evil? Do they roil
onin succession, or are they subject to change, like
the days of man? No, by no means." Men grow
wiser by experience, and more knowing by daily
observation; with them, truth is the daughter oiF
time, and therefore they must take time for their
searches, and, if one experiment fail, must try
another; but it is not so with God, to him nothing
is past, nothing future, but every thing present.
The days of time, by which the life of man is mea-
sured, are nothing to the years of eternity, in which
the life of God is wrapt up.

(3.) He therefore thinks it strange that God
should thus prolong his torture, and continue him
under the confinement of this affliction, and neither
bring him to a trial, nor grant him a release: as if
he must take time to inquire after his iniquity, and
use means to search after his sin, v. 6. Not as if
.Tob thought that God did thus torment him, that
he might find occasion against him; but his dealings
with him had such an aspect, which was disho-
nourable to God, and would tempt men to think
him a hard master. *• Now, Lord, if thou wilt not
consult my comfort, consult thine own honour; do
something for thy ^reat name, and do not disgrace
the throne of thy' glory,'" Jer. xiv. 21.
3. He thinks it looked like an abuse of his omni-

potence, to keep a poor pi isoner in custody, whom
he knew to be innocent, only because there was
none that could deliver him out of his hand; {y. 7. )
Thou knowest that I am not wicked. He had al-
ready owned himself a sinner, and guilty before
God, but he here stands to it, that he was ni t
wicked, not devoted to sin, not an enemy to God,
not a dissembler in his religion, that fie had not
wickedly departed from his God, Ps. xviii. 21.
''But there is none that can deliver out of thy hand,
and therefore there is no remedy; I must be con-
tent to lie there, waiting thy time, and throwing
myself on thy mercy, in submission to thy sovereign
will." Here see, (1.) What ought to quiet us un-
der our troubles; that it is to no purpose to contend
with Omnipotence. (2.) What will abundantly
comfort us, if we are able to appeal to God, as Job
here, " Lord, thou knowest that I am not wicked.
I cannot say that I am not wanting, or I am not
weak; but, through grace, I can say, / am not
wickrd: thou knowest I am not, for thou knowest I
love thee."

8. Thy hands have made me, and fashion-
ed me together round about ; yet thou dost
destroy me. 9. Remember, I beseech thee,
that thou hast made me as the clay ; and
wilt thou bring me into dust again ? 1 0.
Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and
curdled me like cheese? 11. Thou hast
clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast
fenced me with bones and sinews. 12.
Thou hast granted me life and favour, and
thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 13.
And these things hast thou hid in thy heart:
I know that this is with thee.

In these verses, we may observe,

1. How Job eyes God as his Creator and Preser-
ver, and describes his dependence upon him as the
Author and Upholder of his being. This is one of
the first things we are all concerned to know and
consider.

(1.) That God made us: he, and not our parents,
who were only the instruments of his power and
providence in our production. He made us, and not
we ourselves. His hands have made and fashioned
these bodies of ours, and e\ ery part of them ; {v. 8. )
and they are fearfully and wonderfully made.
The soul also, which animates the body, is his gift.
He takes notice of both here. [1.] The body is
made as the clay, {jk 9.) cast into shape, into this
shape, as the clay is formed into a vessel, accord-
ing to the skill and will of the potter. We are
earthen vessels: mean in our original, and soon
broken in pieces, made as the clay; let not, there-
fore, the tlmig formed say unto him that formed it.
Why hast thou made me thus? We must not be
proud of our bodies, because the matter is from the
earth, yet not dishonour our bodies, bec:iuse the
mould and shape are from the Divine Wisdom.
The formation of human bodies in the womb is
described by an elegant similitude, (t'. 10.) Thou
hast floured me out like milk, which is coagulated
into cheese; and by an induction of some particu-
lars, {v. 11.) Though we come into the world
naked, yet the body is itself both clothed and arm-
ed; the skin and flesh are its cUnhing; the bones
and sinews are its armour, not offensive, but defen-
sive. The vital parts, the heart and lungs, are thus
clothed, not to be seen; thus fenced, not to be hurt.
The admirable structure of human bodies is an il-
lustrious instance of the wisdom, power, and good-
ness, of the Creator. What pity is it that these

bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness,
which are capable of being temples of the Holy
Ghost! [2.] The soul is the life, the soul is the
man, and this is the gift of God; Thou hast grant-
ed me life, breathed into me the breath of life,
without which the body would be but a worth-
less carcase. God is the Father of spirits: he
made us living souls, and endued us with the pow-
ers of reason; he gave us life and favour; and life is
a favour, a great favour, more than meat, more than
raiment; a distinguishing favour, a favour that puts
us into a capacity of receiving other favour. Now
Job was in a better mind tha;\ he was when he
quarrelled with life as a burthen, and asked, Why
died I not from the ivomb? Or, by life and favour
may be meant life and all the comforts of life, re-
ferring to his former prosperity. Time was, when
he walked in the light of the divine favour, and
thought, as David, that through that favour his
mountain stood strong.

(2.) That God maintains us: having lighted the
lamp of life, he does not leave it to burn upon its
own stock, but continually supplies it with fresh
oil; " Thy visitation has preserved my sfiirit, kept
me alive, protected me from the adversaries of life,
the death we are in the midst of, and the dangers
we are continually exposed to; and blessed me with
all the necessary supports of life, and the daily sup-
plies it needs and craves."

2. How he pleads this with God, and what use
he makes of it. He reminds God of it; {v. 9. ) lie-
member, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me.
What then?

(1.) "Thou hast made me, and therefore thou
nast a perfect knowledge of me, (Ps. cxxxix. l.«13.)
and needest not to examine me by scourging, nor to
put me upon the rack for the discovering of what
is within me."

(2. ) " Thou hast made me, as the clay, by an act
of sovereignty; and wilt thou, by a like act of sove-
reignty, unmake me again? If so, I must submit."

(3.) " Wilt thou destroy the work of thine own
hands?" It is a plea the saints have often used in

f)rayer; IVe are the clay, and thou our potter, Isa.
xiv. 8. Thy hands 'have made me and fashioned
me, Ps. cxix. 73. So here. Thou madest me; and
wilt thou destroy me? v. 8. Wilt thou bring me
into dust again?" v. 9. "Wilt thou not pity me?
Wilt thou not spare and help me, and stand by the
work of thine own hands? Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Thou
madest me, and knowest my strength; wilt thou
then suffer me to be pressed above measure? Was
I made to be made miserable? Was I preserved
only to endure these calamities?" If we plead this
with ourselves as an inducement to duty, "God
made me and maintains me, and therefore I will
serve him and submit to him," we may plead it
with God as an argument for mercy. Thou hast
made tne, new make me; / am thine, save me.
Job knew not how to reconcile God's former fa-
vours and his present frowns, but concludes, (xi. 13. )
" T/ese things hast thou hid i?i thine heart; both
are according to the counsel of thine own will, and,
therefore, undoubtedly consistent, howe\er they
seem." When God thus strangely changes his way,
though we cannot account for it, we are bound to
believe there are good reasons for it hid in his
heart, which will be manifested shortly. It is not
with us, or in our leach, to assign the cause, but I
know that this is with thee. Known unto God are all
his works.

14. If I sin, then thou markest me, and
thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15. If I be wicked, wo unto me; and if I
be righteous, ijet will I not lift up my head.

Vol. iii.-H

JOB, X. 57

I am full of confusion ; therefore see thou
mine affliction; 16. For it increaseth.
Thou huntest me as a fierce lion ; and
again thou showest thyself marvellous
upon nfie. 17. Thou renewest thy witness-
es against me, and increasest thine indig-
nation upon me ; changes and war are
against me. 1 8. Wherefore then hast thou
brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that
I had given up the ghost, and no eye had
seen me ! 1 9. 1 should have been as though
I had not been ; I should have been carried
from the womb to the grave. 20. Are not
my days few ? cease the?!, and let me alone,
that I may take comfort a little, 21. Be-
fore I go iohence I shall not return, even to
the land of darkness and the shadow of
death; 22. A land of darkness, as darkness
itself: and of the shadow of death, without
any order, and lohe.re the light is as darkness.

Here we have,

I. Job's passionate complaints. On that harsh
and unpleasant string he harps much, in which,
thougli he cannot be justified, he may be excused.
He complained not for nothing, as the murmuring
Israelites, but had cause to complain. If we think
it looks ill in him, let it be a warning to us to keep
our temper better.

1. He complains of the strictness of God's judg-
ment, and the rigour of his proceedings against
him, and is ready to call it Summu?n Jus — Justice
bordering on severity. (1.) That he took all ad
vantages against him"; " If I sin, then thou markest
me; {v. 14.) if I do but take one false step, mis-
place a word, or cast a look awry, I shall be sure to
hear of it. Conscience, thy deputy, will be sure to
upbraid me with it, and to tell me, that this gripe,
this twitch of pain, is to punish me for that." It
God should thus mark iniquities, we are undone;
but he does not thus mark them; though we sin,
God does not deal in extremity with us. (2.) That
he prosecuted those advantages to the utmost;
Thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. While
his troubles continued, he could not take the com-
fort of his pardon, nor hear that \'oice of joy and
gladness; so hard is it to see love in God's heart,
when we see frowns in his face, and a rod in his
hand. (3.) That, whatever was his character, h's
case, at present, was very uncomfortable, v. 15.
[1.] If he be wicked, he is certainly undone in the
other world; If I be wicked, woe to me. Note, A
sinful state is a woeful state. This we should each
of us believe, as Job here, with application to our-
selves; " If I be wicked, though prospei-ous, and
living in pleasure, yet woe to me." Some especially
have reason to dread double woes if they be wicked;
"I that have knowledge, that have made a great
profession of religion, that have been so often under
strong convictions, and have made so many fair
promises; I that was born of such good parents,
blessed with a good education, that have lived in
good f imilies, and long enjoyed the means of grace,
If I be nvicked, woe, and a thousand woes, to me."
[2.] If he be righteous, yet he dares not lift up his
head; dares not answer as before, ch. ix. 15. He is
so oppressed and overwhelmed with his troubles,
that he cannot look u]i with any comfort or confi-
dence. Without were fightings, within were fears;
so that, between both, he was full of confusion: not
only confusion of face, for the disgrace he was
brought down to, and the censures of his friends.

58

OB, X.

but confusion of spirit; his mind was in a constant
hurry, and he was almost distracted, Ps. Ixxxviii.
15.

2. He complains of the severity of the execution.
God (he thought) did not only punish him for every
failui'e, but punish him in a high degree, v. 16, 17.
His affliction was, (1.) Grievous, very grievous,
marvellous, exceeding marvellous. God hunted
him as a lion, as a fierce lion hunts and inins down
his prey. God was not only strange to him, but
showed himself marvellous upon him, by bringing
him into uncommon troubles, and so making him a
prodigy, a wonder unto many. All wondered that
God would inflict, and that Job could bear, so much.
That which made his afflictions most grievous, was,
that he felt God's indignation in them; that was
it that made them taste so bitter, and lie so heavy.
They were God's witnesses against him, tokens of
his displeasure; this made the sores of his body
wounds in his spirit. (2.) It was growing, still
growing, worse and worse. This he insists much
upon; when he hoped the tide would turn, and be-
gin to ebb, still it flowed higher and higher. His
affliction increased, and God's indignation in the
iffliction; he found himself no way better; these
witnesses were renewed against him, that, if one
did not reach to convict him, another might.
Changes and war were against him. If there was
any change with him, it. was not for the better;
still he was kept in a state of war. As long as we
are here in this world, we must expect that the
clouds will return after the rain, and perhaps the
sorest and sharpest trials may be reserved for the
Jast. God was at war with him, and it was a great
change. He did not use to be so, which aggravated
the trouble, and made it truly marvellous. God
usually shows himself kind to his people; if at any
time he shows himself otherwise, it is his strange
work, his strange act, and he doth in it show him-
self marvellous.

3. He complains of his life, and that ever he was
born to all this trouble and misery; {v. 18, 19.)
" If this was designed for my lot, why was I
brought out of the womb, and not smothered there,
or stifled in the birth?" This was the language of
his passion, and it was a relapse into the sin he fell
into before. He had just now called life a favour,
\y. 12.^ yet now he calls it a burthen, and quarrels
with God for giving it, or rather laying it upon
him. Mr. Caryl gives this a good turn in favour
of Job. " We may charitably suppose," (says he,)
'• that that which troubled Job was, that he was in
a condition of life which (as he conceived) hindered
the main end of ,,is life, which was the glorifying God.
His harp was hung on the willow-trees, and he was
quite out of tune for praising God. Nay, he feared
lest his troubles should reflect dishonour upon God,
and give occasion to his enemies to blaspheme; and,
therefore, he wishes, O that I had given ufi the
ghost! A godly man reckons that he lives to no
purpose, if he do not live to the praise and glory of
God." But, if that had been his meaning, it was
grounded on a mistake, for we may glorify the
Lord in the fires. But this use we may make of it,
not to be over-fond of life, since the case has been
such, sometimes, even with wise and good men,
that they have complained of it. Why should we
dread giving up the ghost, or covet to be seen of
men, since the time may come, when we may be
ready to wish we had given up the ghost, and no
eye had seen us? Why should we inordinately
lament the death of our children in their infancy,
that arc as if they liad not been, and are carried
from the womb to the grave, when pei haps we our-
fet-lvps miv sometimes wish it h^d been our own lot?

II Jnl)'s humble requests. He prays,

J That God would see f-'s afflictio7i,{v. 15.) take

cognizance of his case, and take it into his compas-
sionate consideration. Thus David prays, (Fs. xxv.
18. ) Look upon mine afflictions and my /iai?i. Thus
we should, hi our troubles, refer ourselves to God,
and may comfort ourselves with this, that he knows
our souls in adversity.

2. That God would grant him some ease. If he
could not prevail for the removal of his troubles,
yet might he not have some intermission? "Lord,
let me not be always upon the rack, always in ex-
tremity; 0 let me alone, that I may take comfort a
little! V. 20. Grant me some respite, some breath-
ing time, some little enjoyment of myself." This
he would reckon a great favour. Those that are
not duly thankful for constant ease, should think
how welcome one hour's ease would be, if they
were in constant pain. Two things he pleads;

(1.) That life and its light were very short; "Are
not my days few? v. 20. Yes, certainly, they are
very tew; Lord, let them not be all miserable, all
in the extremity of miseiy. I have but a little time
to live, let me have some comfort of life while it
does last." This plea fastens on the goodness of
God's nature, the consideration of which is very
comfortable to an afflicted spirit. And if we would
use this as a plea with God for mercy, " Are not
my days ftwf Lord, pity me;" we should use it as
a plea with ourselves, to quicken us to duty. " Are
not my days few? Then it concerns me to redeem
time, to improve opportunities; what my hand
finds to do, to do it with all my might, that I may
be ready for the days of eternity, which shall be
many. "

(2. ) That death and its darkness were very near,
and would be very long; {v. 21, 22.) "Lord, give
me some ease before I die," that is, "lest I die, of
my pain." Thus David pleads, (Ps. xiii. 3. ) " Lest
I sleep, the sleep of death, and then it will be too
late to expect relief; for. Wilt thou show wonders
to the dead? (Ps. Ixxxviii. 10.) Let me have a
little comfort before I die, that 1 may take leave of
this world calmly, and not in such confusion as I am
now in." Thus earnest should we be for grace, and
thus should we plead; " Lord, renew me in the in-
ward man; Lord, sanctify me before I die, for then
it will never be done. "

See how he speaks here of the state of the dead.

[1.] It is a fixed state, whence we shall not re-
turn ever again to live such a life as we now live,
ch. vii. 10. At death, we must bid a final fareweK
to this world. The body must then be laid where
it will lie long, and the soul adjudged to that state
in which it must be for ever. That had need be
well done, which is to be done but once, and done
for eternity.

[2.] It is a very melancholy state; so it appears
to us. Holy souls, at death, remove to a land of
light, where there is no death; but their bodies
they leave to a land of darkness, and the shadow
of death. He heaps up expressions here of the
same import, to show that he has as dreadful ap-
prehensions of death and the grave as other men
naturally have, so that it was only the extreme
misery he was in, that made him wish for it. Come
and let us look a little into the grave, and we shall
find. First, That there is no order there; it is
without any order; perpetual night, and no succes-
sion of day. All there lie on the same level, and
there is no distinction between prince and pea-
sant, but the servant is there free from his master,
ch. iii. 19. No order is observed in bringing people
to the grave, not the eldest first, not the richest,
not the poorest, and vet every one in his own order,
the order appointed by the God of life. Secondly,
That there is no light there. In the grave there 's
thick darkness, darkness that cannot be felt indeed,
yet cannot but be feaied by those that enjoy thi.

JOB, XI.

59

light of life. In the grave there is no knowledge,
no comfort, no joy, no praising God, no working
out our salvation, and therefore no light. Job was
so nmcli ashamed that others should see his sores,
and so much afraid to see them himself, that the
darkness of the grave, which would hide them and
huddle them up, would, upon that account, be wel-
come to him. Darkness comes upon us, and there-
fore let us walk and work while we have the light
with us. The grave being a land of darkness, it is
well we are carried thither with our eyes closed,
and then it is all one. The grave is a land of dark-
ness to man; our friends that are gone thither, we
reckon remo\ed into darkness, Ps. Ixxxviii. 18.
But that it is not so to God, will appear by this,
that the dust of the bodies of the saints, though
scattered, though mingled with other dust, will
none of it be lost, for God's eye is upon every grain
of it, and it shall be forthcoming in the great day.

CHAP. XI.

Poor Job's wounds were yet bleeding, his sore still runs
and ceases not, but none of his friends bring him any
oil, any balm; Zophar, the third, pours into them as
much vinegar as the two former had done. I. He exhi-
bits a very high charge against Job, as proud and false
in justifying himself, v. 1 . . 4. II. He appeals to God for
his conviction, and begs that God would take him to
task, (v. 5.) and that Job might be made sensible, 1. Of
God's unerring wisdom, and his inviolable justice, v. 6.
2. Of his unsearchable perfections, v. 7 . . 9. 3. Of his
incontestable sovereignty, and uncontrollable power, v.
10. 4. Of the cognizance he takes of the children of
men, v. 11, 12. III. He assures him, that, upon his re-
pentance and reformatiouj (v. 13, 14.) God would restore
him to his former prosperity and safety; (v. 15.. 19.) but
that if he were wicked, it was in vain to expect it, v. 20.

I. nnHEN answered Zophar the Naama-
JL thite, and said, 2. Should not the
multitude of words be answered ? and
should a man full of talk be justified ? 3.
Should thy lies make men h(Dld their peace ?
and when thou mockest, shall no man make
thee ashamed ? 4. For thou hast said, My
doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine
eyes. 5. But oh that God would speak,
and open his lips against thee; 6. And
that he would show thee the secrets of wis-
dom, that they are double to that which is !
Know, therefore, that God exacteth of thee
less than thine iniquity deserveth.

It is sad to see what intemperate passions even
wise and good men are sometimes betrayed into by
the heat of disputation; of which Zophar here is
an instance. Eliphaz began with a very modest
preface, ch. iv. 2. Bildad was a little more rough
upon Job, ch. viii. 2. But Zophar falls upon him
without mercy, and gives him very bad language;
Should a man full of talk be justijied? And should
thy lies make men hold their peace? Is this the way
to comfort Job? No, nor to convince him neither.
Does this become one that appears as an advocate
for God and his justice? Tantcene animis ccelestibus
ir£? — In heavenly breasts can such resentments
dwell? They that engage in controversy will find
it very hard to keep their temper. All the wisdom, ^
caution, and resolution, they have, will be little
enough to prevent their breaking out into such in-
decencies as we here find Zophar guilty of.

1. He represents Job otherwise than what he was;
(i'. 2, 3. ) he would have him thought idle and imper-
tinent in his discourse, and one that loved to hear
himself talk; he gives him the lie, and calls him a
mocker; and all this, that it might be looked upon

as a piece of justice to chastise him. Those that
have a mind to fall out with their brethren, and to
fall foul upon them, find it necessary to put the worst
colours they can upon them and their performances,
and, right or wrong, to make them odious. We
have read and considered Job's discourses in the
foregoing chapters, and have found them full of
good sense, and much to the purpose; that his

Erinciples are right, his reasonings strong, many of
is expressions weighty and very considerable, and
that what there is in them of heat and passion, a
little candour and charity will excuse and overlook;
yet Zophar here invidiously represents him,

(1.) As a man that never considered what he
said, but uttered what came uppermost, only to
make a noise with the multitude of words, hoping
by that means to carry his cause, and run down his
reprovers. Should not the multitude of words be
answered? Truly, sometimes it is no great matter
whether it be or no; silence perhaps is the best
confutation of impertinence, and puts the greatest
contempt upon it; Answer not a fool according to
his folly. But, if it be answered, let reason and
grace have the answering of it, not pride and pas-
sion. Should a man full of talk (Marg. a man of
lifis, that is, all tongue, vox et fireterea nihil — mere
voice,) be justified? Should he be justified in his
loquacity, as, in effect, he is, if he be not reproved
for it? No, for in the multitude of words there
wanteth not sin. Should he be justified by it? Shall
many words pass for valid pleas? Shall he carry
the day with the flourishes of language? No, he
shall not be accepted with God, or any wise men,
for his much speaking, Matth. vi. 7.

(2. ) As a man that made no conscience of Avhat
he said, a liar, and one that hoped, by the impu-
dence of lies, to silence his adversaries; (Should
thy lies make men hold their fieace?) a mocker, one
that bantered all mankind, and knew how to put
false colours upon any thing, and was net ashamed
to impose upon every one that talked with him-
JVhen thou mockest, shall no man make thee asham-
ed? Is it not time to speak, to stem sucli a violent
tide as this? Job was not mad, but spake the words
of truth and soberness, and yet is thus misrepre-
sented. Eliphaz and Bildad had answered him,
and said what they could to make him ashamed; it
was, therefore, no instance of Zophar's generosity,
to set upon a man so violently, who was already
thus harassed: here were three matched against
one.

2. He charges .Tnb with saying that which he had
not said; (v. 4.) Thou hast said. My dcctrine is
fiure. And what if he had said so? It is true that
Job was sound in the faith, and orthodox in his
judgment, and spake better of God than his friends
did. If he had expressed himself unwarily, yet it
did not therefore follow but that his doctrine was
true; but he charges him with saying, / am clean
in thine eyes. Job had not said so: he had, indeed,
said. Thou knowest that I am not wicked; {ch. x.
7. ) but he had also said, / have sinned, and never
pretended to a spotless perfection. He had, indeed,
maintained that he was not a hypocrite, as they
charged him; but to infer thence that he would not
own himself a sinner, was an unfair insinuation.
We pught to put the best construction on the words
and actions of our brethren that they will bear; but
contenders are tempted to put the worst.

3. He appeals to God, and wishes him to appear
against Job. So very confident is he that Job is in
the wrong, that nothing will serve him but that
God must immediately appear to silence and con-
demn him. We are commonly ready with too
much assurance to interest God in our quarrels, and
to conclude that if he would but speak, he would
take our part, and speak for us; as Zophar here.

60

JOB, XL

0 that God -would sjieak, for he would certainly
ofitn hin lifis against thee; whereas, when God did
5-pe:ili, he opened his lip3 for Job against his three
friends. We ought indeed to leave all controver-
sies to be determined by the judgment of God,
which we are sure is according to truth; but they
are not always in the right, who are most forward
to appeal to that judgment, and prejudge it against
their antagonists.

Zophar despairs to convince Job himself, and
therefore desires God would convince him of two
things, which it is good for every one of us duly to
consider, and under all our afflictions, cheerfully
to confess.

(1.) The unsearchable depth of God's counsels.
Zophar cannot pretend to do it, but he desires that
God himself would show Job so much of the secrets
of the divine wisdom, as might convince him that
they are, at least, double to that which is, x;. 6.
Note, [1.] There are secrets in the divine wisdom;
arcana im/ierii — state secrets. God's way is in the
sea; clouds and darkness are round about him; he
has reasons of state which we cannot fathom, and
must not pry into, [2.] What we know of God, is
nothing to what we cannot know. What is hid, is
more than double to what appears, Eph. iii. 9. [3. ]
By employing ourselves in adoring the depth of
those divine counsels of which we cannot find the
bottom, we shall very much tranquillize our minds
under the afflicting hand of God. [4. ] God knows
a great deal more evil of us than we do of ourselves;
so some understand it. When God gave David a
sight and sense of sin, he sa.id that he had in the
hidden fiart made him to know -wisdom, Ps. li. 6.

(2.) The unexceptionable justice of his proceed-
ings; " Know, therefore, that how sore soever the
correction is, that thou art under, God exacteth of
thee less than thine iniquity deserves:" or, as some
read it, " He remits thee part of thine iniquity, and
does not deal with thee according to the full deme-
rit of it." Note, [1.] When the debt of duty is
not paid, it is justice to insist upon the debt of
punishment. [2.] Whatever punishment is inflict-
ed upon us in this world, we must own that it is less
than our iniqiiities deserve, and therefore, instead
of complaining of our troubles, we must be thank-
ful that we are out of hell, Lam. iii. 39. Ps. ciii. 10.

7. Canst thou by searching find out God?
Canst thou find out the Ahiiighty unto per-
fection? 8. // is as high as heaven ; what
canst thou do? deeper than hell; what
canst thou know? 9. The measure there-
of is longer than the earth, and broader
than the sea. 10. If he cut off, and shut
up, or gather together, then who can hinder
him? 11. For he knoweth vain men: he
seeth wickedness also: will he not then
consider it? 12. For vain man would be
wise, though man be born like a wild ass's
colt.

Zophar here speaks very good things concerning
God and his greatness and glory, concerning man
and his vanity and folly: these two compared to-
gether, and duly considered, will ha\ e a powerful
influence upon our submission to all the dispensa-
tions of the Divine Providence.

I. See here what (iod is, and let him be adored.

1. He is an incomprehensible Being, infinite and
Immense, whose nature and perfection, our finite
understandings cannot possibly form any adequate
conceptions of, and whose counsels and actings we
cannot therefore, without the greatest presumption,

pass a judgment upon. We, that are so little ac-
quainted with the divine nature, are incompetent
judges of the Divine Providence; and, when we
censure the dispensations of it, we talk of things
that we do not understand. We camiot find rut
God; how dare we then find fault with him? "Zxy-
phar here shows,

(1.) That God's nature infinitely exceeds the ca-
pacities of our understandings; "Canst thou ^nd
out God: find him out to fierfectioyi'^ No, What
canst thou do? What canst thou kno-iv? v. 7, 8.
Thou, a poor, weak, short-sighted creature, a worm
of the earth, that art but of yesterday? Thou,
though ever so inquisitive after him, ever so desi-
rous and industrious to find him out, yet darest thou
attempt the search, or canst thou hope to speed in
it?" We may by searching ^rzrf God, (Acts xvii.
27.) but we cannot find him out in any thing he is
pleased to conceal; we may o/?prehend him, but
cannot comprehend him; we may know that he is,
but cannot know -what he is; the eye can see the
ocean, but not see over it; we may, by a humble,
diligent, and believing search, find out something of
God, but cannot find him out to perfection; we may
know, but cannot know fully, what God is, nor find
out his work from the beginning to the end, Eccl.
iii. 11. Note, God is unsearchable. The ages ot
his eternity cannot be numbered, nor the spaces of
his immensity measured: the depths of his wisdom
cannot be fathomed, nor the reaches of his power
bounded: the brightness of his glory can never be
described, nor an inventory be made of the trea-
sures of his goodness. This is a good reason why we
should always speak of God with humility and cau-
tion, and never prescribe to him or quarrel with
him; why we should be thankful for what he has
revealed of himself, and long to be there where we
shall see him as he is, 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10.

(2.) That it infinitely exceeds the limits of the
whole creation; It is higher than heaven, (so some
read it,) deeper than hell, the great abyss, longer
than the earth, and broader than the sea, manv
parts of which are, to this day, undiscovered, an^
more were then. It is quite out of our reach to
comprehend God's nature; such kno-w ledge is too
ivonderful for us, Ps. cxxxix. 6. We cannot
fathom God's designs, nor find out the reasons of
his proceedings; his judgments are a great deep.
St. Paul attributes such immeasurable dimensions
to the divine love, as Zophar here attributes to the
divine wisdom, and yet recommends it to our ac-
quaintance, fEph. iii. 18.) That ye may knoiv the
breadth, and length, and defith, and height, of the
love of Christ.

2. God is a sovereign Lord; {y. 10.) If he cut
off by death, (Marg. If he make a change, for
death is a change; if he make a change in nations,
in families, in the postvire of our affairs,) if he shut
up in prison, or in the net of affliction; (Ps. Ixvi.
11.) if he seize any creature as a hunter his prey,
he will gather it, (so Bishop Patrick,) and who
shall force him to restore? Or, if he gather to-
gether, as tares for the fire, or, if he gather to. him-
self man* s spirit and breath, {ch. xxxiv. 14.) then
nvho can hinder him? Who can either arrest the
sentence, or oppose the execution? Who can con-
trol his power, or arraign his wisdom and justice?
If he that made all out of nothing, think fit to re-
duce all to nothing, or to their first chaos again; if
he that separated between light and darkness, dry
land and sea, at first, please to gather them toge-
ther again; if he that made, unmakes, -ivho can turn
him a-way, alter his mind, stay his hand, impede or
impeach his proceedings?

3. God is a strict and just observer of the chil-
dren of men; (v. 11.) He kno-ws vain men. We
know little of nim, but he knows us perfectly; he

JOB, XL

61

sees wickedness also, not to approve it, (Hab. i.
13.) but to animadvert upon it. (1.) He observes
vain men; (such all are, every man, at his best es-
tate, is altogether vanity;) and he considers it in his
dealings with them. He knows what the projects
and hopes of vain men are, and can blast and defeat
them, the workings of their foolish fancies; he sits
in heaven, and laughs at them. He takes knowledge
of the vanity of men, that is, their little sins, so
some; their vain tlioughts and vain words, and un-
steadiness in that which is good. (2. ) He observes
bad men; he sees gross wickedness also, though
acted ever so secretly, and ever so artfully palliated
and disguised. All the wickedness of the wicked
is naked and open before the all-seeing eye of God;
ivi/l he not then consider it? Yes, certainly he will,
and will reckon for it, though for a time he seems
to keep silence.

n. See here what man is; and let him be hum-
bled; {v. 12.) God sees this concerning vain man,
that he would be wise, would be thought so, though
he is born like a ivild ass^s colt, so sottish and fool-
ish, unteachable and untameable. See what man
is: 1. He is a vain creature; empty; so the word
is: God made him full, but he emptied himself,
impoverished himself, and now he is raca, a crea-
ture that has nothing in him. 2. He is a foolish
creature, become like the beasts that perish, (Ps.
xlix. 20. — Ixxiii. 22.) an idiot, born like an ass, the
most stupid animal, an ass's colt, not yet brought to
any service. If ever he come to be good for any
thing, it is owing to the grace of Christ, who once,
in the day of his triumph, served himself of an ass's
colt. 3. He is a wilful ungovernable creatuie. An
ass's colt may be made good for something, but the
wild ass's colt will never be reclaimed, nor regards
the crying of the driver. See Job xxxix. 5 . . 7.
Man thinks himself as much at liberty, and his
own master, as the wild ass's colt does, that is used
to the wilderness, (Jer. ii. 24.) eager to gratify his
own appetites and passions. 4. Yet he is a proud
creature and self-conceited. He would be wise,
would be thought so, values himself upon the ho-
nour of wisdom, though he will not submit himself
to the laws of wisdom. He would be wise, that is,
he reaches after forbidden wisdom, and, like his
first parents, aiming to be wise above what is writ-
ten, loses the tree of life for the tree of knowledge.
Now, is such a creature as this fit to contend with
God, or call him to an account? Did we but better
know God and ourselves, we should better know
how to conduct ourselves toward God.

1 3. If thou prepare thy heart, and stretch
out thy hands toward hun; 14. If iniquity
be in thy hand, put it far away, and let not
wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. 15.
For then shalt thou lift up thy face without
spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt
not fear: 16. Because thou shalt forget
thy misery, and remember it as waters that
pass away: 17. And thine age shall be
clearer than the noon-day ; thou shalt shine
forth, thou shalt be as the morning. 18.
And thou shalt be secure, because there is
hope ; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and
thou shalt take thy rest in safety. 19. Also
thou shalt lie down, and none shall make
thee afraid ; yea, many shall make suit unto
thee, 20. But the eyes of the wicked shall
fail, and they shall not escape, and their
hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

Zophar, as the other two, here encourages Job
to hope for better times, if he would but come to a
better temper.

I. He gives him good counsel, {v. 13, 14.) as
El phaz did, {ch. v. 8.) and Bildad, ch. viii. 5. He
would have him repent, and return 'to God. Ob-
serve the steps of that return;

1. He must look within, and get his mind chang-
ed, and the tree made good. He must prepare his
heart; there the work of conversion and reforma-
tion must begin. The heart that wandered from
God must be reduced; that was defiled with sin and
put into disorder, must !)e cleansed and put in order
again; that was wavering and unfixed, must be
settled and established: so the word here signifies.
The heart is then prepared to seek (iod, when it
is determined and fully resolved to make a business
of it, and to go through with it.

2. He must look up, and stretch out his hand to-
ward God, that is, must stir up himself to take
hold on God; must pray to him with earnestness
and importunity, striving in prayer, and with ex-
pectation to receive mercy and grace from him.
To give the hand to the Lord, signifies to yield
ourselves to him and to covenant with him, 2 Chron.
XXX. 8. This Job must do, and, for the doing of it,
must prepare his heart. Job had prayed, but Zo-
phar would have him to pray in a better manner,
not as an appellant, but as a petitioner and humble
supplicant.

3. He must amend what was amiss in his own
conversation, else his prayers would be ineffectual;
{v. 14.) If iniquity be in thy hand, that is, "If
there be any sin, which thou dost yet live in the
practice of, put it far away, forsake it with detes-
tation and a holy indignation, steadfastly resolving
not to return to it, nor ever to have any thing more
to do with it, Ezek. xviii. 31. Hos. xiv. 9. Isa.
XXX. 22. If any of the gains of iniquity, any goods
gotten by fraud or oppression, be in thine hand,
make restitution of it,^' (as Zaccheus, Luke xix.
8.) I* and shake thy hands from holding \t" Isa.
xxxiii. 15. The guilt of sin is not removed, if the
gain of sin be not restored.

4. He must do his utmost to reform his family
too; *'Let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles;
let not thy house haibour or shelter anv wicked
persons, any wicked practices, or any wealth gotten
by wickedness." He suspected that Job's great
household had been ill governed, and that where
there were manv, there were many wicked, and
the ruin of his family was the punishment of the
wickedness of it; and therefore, if he expected God
should return to him, he must reform what was
amiss there, and, though wickedness might come
into his tabernacles, he must not suifer it to dwell
there, Ps. ex. 3, &c.

II. He assures him of comfort if he took this
counsel, v. 15, &c. If he would repent and re-
form, he should, without doubt, be easy and happy,
and all would be well. Perhaps Zophar might in-
sinuate, that, unless God did speedily make such a
change as this in his condition, he and his fiiends
would be confirmed in their opinion of him as a
hypocrite and a dissembler with God: a great truth,
however, is conveyed, That the work of righteous-
ness will be fieace, and the effect of righteousness
quietness and assurance for ever, Isa. xxxii. 17.
Those that sincerely turn to God, may expect,
1. A holy confidence toward God; "Then shalt
thou lift up thy face toward heaven without spot;
thou mayest come boldly to the throne of grace,"
and not with that terror and amazement expressed,
ch. ix. 34. If our hearts condemn us not for hypo-
crisy and impenitency, then have we confidence in
our approaches to God and expectations from him,
1 John iii. 21. If we are looked uDon in the face

b2

JOB, XII.

rf ihe Anointed, our fares, that were dejected, may-
be lifted uj;; t!iat were polluted, being washed with
tile blood of Christ, may be lifted up without spot.
We m ly draw near in full assurance of faith, when
we are nfirinkl^d from an evil conscience, Heb. x.
22, Son»e understand this of the clearing up of his
credit before men, Ps. xxxvii. 6. If we make our
peace with God, we may with cheerfulness look
( ur friends in the face.

2. Aholycomposedness in themselves; Thoushalt
be steadfast, and sfialt not fear, not be afraid of evil
tidings, thy heart being fixed, Ps. cxii. 7. Job was
now full of confusion, {c/i. x. 15.) while he looked
upon God as his Enemy, and quarrelled with him;
but Zophar assures him, that, if he would submit
and humble himself, his mind would be stayed,
and he would be freed from those frightful appre-
hensions he had of God, which put him into such
an agitation. The less we are frightened, the more
■we are fixed; and, consequently, the more fit we
are for our services and for our sufferings.

3. A comfortable reflection upon their past trou-
bles; {v. 16.) '^^Thou shall forget thy misery; (as
the mother forgets her travailing pains, for joy that
the child is born;) thou shalt be perfectly freed
from the impressions it makes upon thee, and thou
shalt remember it as nvaters that pass away, or are
poured out of a vessel, which leave no taste or tinc-
ture beliind them, as other liquors do. The wounds
of thy present affliction shall be perfectly healed,
not only without a remaining scar, but without a
remaining pain." Job had endeavoured to forget
his complaint, {ch. ix. 27.) but found he could not;
his soul had still in remembrance the wormwood arid
the gall: but here Zophar puts him in a way to for-
get it: let him by faith and prayer bring his griefs
and cares to God, and leave them with him, and
then he shall forget them. Where sin sits heavily,
affliction sits lightly. If we duly remember our sins,
we shall, in comparison with them, forget our
misery; much more if we obtain the comfort of
a sealed pardon and a sealed peace. He whose ini-
quity is forgiven shall not say, I am sick, but for-
get that, Isa. xxxiii. 24.

4. A comfortable prospect of their future peace.
This Zophar here thinks to please Job with, in
answer to the m my despairing expressions he had
used, as if it were to no purpose for him to hope
ever to see good days again in this world; "Yea,
but thou mavest," (says Zophar,) "and good nights
too."

A blessed change he here puts him in hopes of.

(1.) That though now his light was eclipsed, it
should shine out again, and brighter than ever, v.
17. That even his setting sun should out-shine his
noon-day sun, and his evening be fair and clear as
the morning, in respect both of honour and plea-
sure; that his light should shine out of obscurity;
(Isa. Iviii. 10.) and the thick and dark cloud, from
behind which his sun should break forth, would
serve as a foil to its lustre. That it should shine
even in old age', and those evil days should be good
days to him. Note, They that truly turn to God
then begin to shine forth; their path is as the shin-
ing light which increases, the period of their day
■will be the perfection of it, and their evening to this
•world their morning to a better.

(2. ) That though now he was in a continual fear
and terror, he should live in a holy rest and securi-
ty, and find himself continually safe and easy; (x'.
18.) Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope.
Note, Those who have a good hope, through
grace, in CTod, and of heaven, are certainly safe,
j'.nd have reason to be secure, how difflrult soever
the times are through which they pass in this world.
He that walks uprightly may thus walk surely, be-
cause, though there j"-e trouble and danger, yet

there is hope that all will be well at last. Hope i?
071 anchor of the soul, Heb. \ i. 19. "■Thou shalt
dig about thee," that is, " Thou shalt be as safe as
an aimy in its intrenchments." They thac submi
themselves to God's government shall be taken un-
der his protection, and then they are s;ife bi.tli day
and night. [1.] By day, when they employ them-
selves abroad; ''Thou shalt dig in safety, thou -and
thy servants for thee, and not be again set upon
by the plunderers, who fell upon thy ser, ants at
plough," ch. i. 14. It is no part of the promised
prosperity, that he should live in idleness, but that
he should have a calling and follow it, and, when
he was about the business of it, should be under the
divine protection; Thou shalt dig and be safe, not
rob and be safe; the way of duty is the way of safe-
ty. [2.] By night, when they repose themselves
at home; Ihou shalt take thy rest (and the sleep of
the labouring 7nan is sweet) in safety, notwithstand-
ing the dangers of the darkness. The pillar of
cloud by day shall be a pillar of fire by night;
"Thou shalt lie down, {v. 19.) not forced to' wander
where there is no place to lay thy head on, not
forced to watch and sit up in expectation of assaults;
but thou shalt go to bed at bed-time, and not only
shall none hurt thee, but none shall make thee
afraid, or so much as give thee an alarm." Note,
It is a great mercy to have quiet nights and undis-
turbed sleeps; these say so that ai'e within the hear-
ing of the noise of war. And the way to be quiet,
is, to seek unto God, and keep ourselves in his love.
Nothing needs make those afraid, who return to
God as their rest, and take him for their habitation.

(3.) That though now he was slighted, yet he
should be courted; " Many shall make suit to thee,
and think it their interest to secure thy friendship."
Suit is made to those that are eminently wise or re-
puted to be so, that are very rich, or in power. Zo-
phar knew Job so well, that he foresaw, how low
soever this present ebb was, if once the tide turned,
it would flow as high as ever, and he would be again
the darling of his country. They that rightly make
suit to God, will probably see the day when others
will make suit to them, as the foolish virgins to the
wise, Give us of your oil.

Lastly, Zophar concludes with a brief account of
the doom of wicked people; (r. 20.) But the eyes of
the ivicked shall fail. It should seem, he suspected
that Job would not take his counsel, and here tells
him what would then come of it, setting death as
well as life before him. See what will come of those
who persist in their wickedness, and will not be re-
formed.

1. They shall not reach the good thev flatter
themselves with the hopes of, in this world and in
the other. Disappointments will be their doom,
their shame, their endless torment. Their eyes
shall fail with expecting that which will never come.
When a wicked man dieth, his expectation perishes,
Prov. xi. 7. Their hope shall be as a puff of breath,
(Marg.) vanished and gone, past recall: or their
hope will perish and expire as a man does when he
gives up the ghost; it will fail them when they have
most need of it, and when they expected the ac-
complishment of it; it will die away, and leave them
in utter confusion.

2. They shall not avoid the evil which sometimes
they frighten themselves with the apprehension of;
they shall not escape the execution of the sentence
past upon them; can neither out -brave it, noi out-
run it. Those that will not fly to God, will find it
in vain to think of flying/rom him.

CHAP. XIT.

In this and the two following chapters, we have Job's an-
swer to Zophar's discourse. In which, as before, he fir^t
reasons with his friends, (see ch. 13. 19.) and then turns

JOB xri.

63

to his God, and directs liis expostulations to him, from
thence to the end of his discourse. In this chapter, he
addresses himself to his friends, and, I. He condemns what
they had said of him, and the judgment they had given of
his character, v. 1 , . 5. II. He contradicts and confronts
what they had said of the destruction of wiclfed people
in this world, showing- that tiiey often prosper, v. 6 . . II.
in. He consents to what they had said of the wisdom,
power, and sovereignty, of God, and the dominion of his
providence over the children of men and all their affairs;
ne confirms this, and enlarges upon it, v. 12 ..25.

1. 4 ND Job answered and said, 2. No
/5l doubt but ye are the people, and wis-
dom shall die with you. 3. But I have un-
derstanding as well as you ; I am not inferior
to you : yea, who knoweth not such things
as these ? 4. I am as one mocked of his
neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he an-
swereth him : the just upright man is laugh-
e,d to scorn. 5. He that is ready to slip
with his feet is as a lamp despised in the
thought of him that is at ease.

The reproofs Job here gives to his friends, whe-
ther they were just or no, were very sharp, and may
ser\ e for a rebuke to all that are proud and scorn-
ful, and an exposing of their folly.

I. He upbraids them with their conceitedness of
themselves, and the good opinion they seemed to
have'of their own wisdom in comparison with him;
than which nothing is more weak and unbecoming,
nor better deserves to be ridiculed, as it is here.

1. He represents them as claiming the monopoly
of wisdom, v. 2. He speaks ironically, " JVo doubt,
you are the peofile; you think yourselves fit to dic-
tate and give law to all mankind, and your own judg-
ment to be the standard by which every man's opi-
nion must be measured and tried; as if nobody could
discern between truth and falsehood, good and evil,
but you only; and therefore every top-sail must
lower to you, and, right or wrong, we must all say
as you say, and you three must be the people, the
majority, to have the casting vote." Note, It is a
very foolish sinful thing for any to think themselves
wiser than all mankind besides, or to speak and act
confidently and imperiously, as if they thought so.
Nay, he goes further; "You not only think there
are none, but that there nvill be none, as wise as you,
and therefore that wisdom must die with you, and
all the world must be fools when you are gone, and
in the dark when your sun is set." Note, It is folly
for us to think that there will be any great irrepa-
rable loss of us when we are gone, or that we can be
ill-spared, since God has the residue of the Spirit,
and can raise up others more fit than we are, to do
his work. When wise men and good men die, it is
a comfort to think that wisdom and goodness shall
not die with them. Some think Job here reflects
upon Zophar's comparing him (as he thought) and
others to the wild ass's colt, ch. xi. 12. " Yes," says
he, " 've must be asses, you are the only men. "

2. He does himself the justice to put in his claim
as a sharer in the gifts of wisdom; {y. 3.) " But I
have understanding, a heart, as well as you; nay,
I fall not lower than you;" (as it is in the margin;)
'• I am as well able to judge of the methods and
meanings of the Divine Providence, and to construe
the hard chapters of it, as you are. " He says not
this, to magnify himself; it was no great applause
of himself to say, I have understanding as ivell as
you; no, nor to sav, "I understand this matter as
well as you;" for what reason had either he or they
to be proud of understanding that which was obvi-
ous and level to the capacity of the meanest; " Yea,
•who knows not such things as these? What things

you have said, that are true, are plain truths, and
common themes, which there are many that can talk
as excellently of as either you or I:" but he says it,
to humble them, and check the value they had for
themselves as doctors of the chair. Note, (1.) It
may justly keep us from being proud of our know-
ledge, to consider how many there are that know as
much as we do, and perhaps much more, and to
better purpose. (2.) When we are tempted to be
harsh in our censures of those we differ from and
dispute with, we ought to consider that they also
ha\e understandings as well as we, a capacity of
judging, and a right of judging, for themselves; nay,
perhaps they are not mferior to us, but iujjerior, arid
it is possible that they may be in the right, and we
in the wrong; and therefore we ought not to judge
or despise them, (Rom. xiv. 3. ) nor pretend to be
masters, (Jam. iii. 1.) while all we are brethren,
Matth. xxiii. 8. It is a very reasonable allowance
to be made to all we converse with, all we contend
with, that they are rational creatures as well as we.
II. He complains of the great contempt with which
they had treated him. Those that are haughty and
think too well of themselves, are commonly scorn-
ful, and ready to trample upon all about them : Job
found it so, at least he thought he did; {v. 4.) lam
as one mocked. I cannot say there was cause for
this charge; we will not think Job's friends designed
him any abuse, nor aimed at any thing but to con-
vince him, and so, in the right method, to comfort
him; yet he cries out, I am as one mocked. Note,
We are apt to call reproofs refiroaches, and to think
ourselves mocked when we are but advised and ad-
monished; this peevishness is our folly, and a great
wrong to ourselves and to our friends. Yet we can-
not but say there was a colour for this charge; they
came to comfort him, but they vexed him ; gave him
counsels and encouragements, but with no great
.opinion that either the one or the other would take
effect; and therefore he thought they mocked him,
and it added much to his grief. Nothing is more
grievous to those that are fallen from the height of
prosperity into the depth of adversity, than to be
trodden on, and insulted o\er, when they are down;
and on this head they are too apt to be suspicious.
Observe, 1. WViat aggravated this grievance to
him. Two things: (1.) That they were his neigh-
bours, his friends, his com])anions, so the word sig-
nifies; and the scoflFs of such are often most spiteful-
ly given, and always most indignantly received; (Ps.
Iv. 12, 13.) It was not an enemy that refiroached
me; then I could have slighted it, and so borne it;
but it was thou, a man mine equal. (2. ) That they
were professors of religion, such as called upon God,
and said that he answered them; for some under-
stand that of the persons mocking; "They are such
as have a regard to Heaven, and an interest in
Heaven, whose prayers I would therefore be glad
of and thankful for, and whose good opinion I can-
not but covet, and therefore whose censures are the
more grievous." Note, It is sad that any who call
upon (xod should mock their brethren; (Jam. iii. 9,
10.) audit cannot but lie heavily on a good man to be
thought ill of by those whom he thinks well of; yet
this is no new thing.

2. What supported him under it. (1.) That he
had a God to go to, with whom he could lodge his
appeal; for some understand those Avords of the
person mocked, that he calls ufioyi God, and he
answers hi?n ; and so it agrees with ch. xvi. 20. Jlfy
friends scorn me, but mine eye poureth out tears to
God. If our friends be deaf to our complaints, God
is not; if they condemn us, God knows our integri
ty; if they make the worst of us, he will make the
best of us; if they give us cross answers, he will
give us kind ones. (2.) That his case was not sin-
gular, but very common: The just upright nmn is

64

JOB, XII.

laughed to scorn; by many he is laughed at even
for his justice and his uprightness, his honesty to-
ward men, and his piety toward God; these are de-
rided as foolish things, which silly people needless-
ly hamper themselves with: as if religion were a
jest, and therefore to be made a jest of. By most
he is laughed at for any little infirmity or weakness,
notwithstanding his justice and uprightness, with-
out any consideraticin had of that which is so much
his lionour. Note, It was of old the lot of honest
good people to be despised and derided; we are not
therefore to think it strange, (1 Pet. iv. 12.) no nor
to think it hard, if it be our lot; so persecuted they
not only the prophets, but even the saints of the pa-
triarchal age, Matth. v. 12. And can we expect to
fare better than they?

3. What he suspected to be the true cause of it,
and that was, in short, this; they were themselves
rich and at ease, and therefore they despised him
who was fallen into poverty. It is the way of the
world, we see instances of it daily; they that pros-
per are praised, but of them that are going down it
IS said, "Down with them." He that is ready to
slifi with hiffeet, and fall into trouble, though he has
formerly shone as alamj), is then looked upon as a
lamp going out, like the snufF of a candle, which
we throw to the ground, and tread upon, and is ac-
cordingly despised in the thought of him that is at
ease, v. 5. Even the just upright man, that is in
his generation as a burning and shining light, if he
enter into ibmptation, (Ps. Ixxiii. 2.) or come under
a cloud, is looked upon with contempt. See here, (1.)
What is the common fault of those that live in pros-
perity ; being full and easy and merry themselves,
thev look scornfully upon those that are in want,
pain, and sorrow; they overlook them, take no no-
tice of them, and study to forget them. SeePs. cxxiii.
4.) The chief butler drinks wine in bowls, but
makes nothing of the afflictions of Joseph. Wealth
without grace often makes men thus haughty, thus
careless of their poor neighbours. (2.) What is the
common fate of those that fall into adversity. Po-
verty serves to eclipse all their lustre; though they
are lamps, yet, if taken out of golden candlesticks,
and put, like Gideon's, into earthen pitchers, no-
body values them as formerly, but they that live at
ease despise them.

6. The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and
they that provoke God are secure ; into whose
hand God bringeth ahundanthj. 7. But
ask now the beasts, and they shall teach
thee ; and the fowls of the air, and they shall
tell thee: 8. Or speak to the earth, and
It shall teach thee ; and the fishes of the sea
shall declare unto thee. 9. Who knoweth
not in all these, that the hand of the Lord
hath wrought this ? 10. In whose hand is
the soul of every living thing, and the breath
of all mankind. 11. Doth not the ear try
words ? and the mouth taste his meat ?

Job's friends, all of them, went upon this princi-
ple, that wicked people cannot prosper long in this
world, but some remarkable judgment or other will
suddenly light on them: Zophar had concluded
with it, that the eyes of the ivicked shall fail, ch. xi.
20. This principle Job here opposes, and maintains,
that God, in disposing men's outward affairs, acts as
a Sovereign, reserving the exact distribution of re-
wards and punishments for the future state.

I. He asserts it as an undoubted truth, that wick-
ed people may, and often do, prosper long in this
world, V. 6. Even great sinners may enjoy great

prosperity. Observe, 1. How he describes the sin
ners; they are robbers, and such as provoke God,
the worst kind of sinners, blasphemers and persecu-
tors; perhaps he refers to the Sabeans and Chal-
deans, who had robbed him, and had always lived
by spoil and rapine, and yet tliey prospered; all the
world saw they did, and there is no disputing against
sense; one observation built upon matter of fact is
worth twenty notions framed by an hypothesis. Or,
more generally. All proud oppressors are robbers
and pirates. It is supposed that what is injurious to
men, is provoking to God, the Patron of right, and
the Protector of mankind. It is not strange, if those
that \ iolate the bonds of justice, break thr< ugh the
obligations of all religion, bid defiance even to God
himself, and make nothing of provoking him. 2.
How he describes their prosperity: it is very great;
for, (1.) Even their tabernacles prosper, these that
live with them, and those that come after them, and
descend from them. It seems as if a blessing were
entailed upon their families; and that is preserved
sometimes to succeeding generations, which was got
by fraud. (2. ) They are secure, and not only feel
no hurt, but fear none, are under no apprehensions
of danger, either from threatening providences, or
an awakened conscience. But those that provoke
God are never the more safe for their being secure.
(3.) Into their hand God brings abundantly. They
have more than heart could wish, Ps. Ixxiii. 7-
They have, not for necessity only, but for delight;
not for themselves only, but for others; not for the
present only, but for hereafter; and this from the
hand of Providence too. God brings plentifully to
them ; we cannot therefore judge of men's piety by
their plenty, nor of what they have in their heart
by what they have in their hand.

II. He app)eals even to the inferior creatures foi
the proof of this — the beasts, and fowls, and trees,
and even the earth itself; consult these, and they
shall tell thee; {v. 7, 8.) many a good lesson we
may learn from them; but what are they here to
teach us.'

1. We may learn from them that the tabemacle&
of robbers prosper; so some. For, (1.) Even among
the brute creatures, the greater devour the lesser,
and the stronger prey upon the weaker, and men
are as the fishes of the sea, Hab. i. 14. If sin had
not entered, we may suppose there had been no such
disorder among the creatures, but the wolf and the
lamb had lain down together. (2.) These crea-
tures are serviceable to wicked men, and so they
declare their prosperity. Ask the herds and the
flocks, to whom they belong, and they will tell yon
that such a robber, such an oppressor, is their
owner: the fishes and fowls will tell you that they
are served up to the tables, and feed the luxury, ol
proud sinners: the earth brings forth her fruits to
them, {ch. ix. 24.) and the whole creation groans
under the burthen of their tyranny, Rom. viii. 20,
22. Note, All the creatures which wicked men
abuse, by making them the food and fuel of theii
lusts, will witness against them, another day.
Jam. v. 3, 4.

2. We may from them leam the wisdom, power,
and goodness, of God, and that sovereign domin'on
of his, into which plain and self-evident truth all
these difficult dispensations must be resolved.
Zophar had made a vast mystery of it, ch. xi. 7,
"So far from that," (says Job,) "that what we are
concerned to know, we may learn even from the
inferior creatures; for who knows not from all
these? Any one may easily gather from the book
of the creatures, that the hand of the Lord has
wrought this," (_x>. 9.) that is, "that there is a wise
providence which guides and governs all these
things by rules which we are neither acquainted
with, nor are competent judges of." Note. Fron.

JOB, XII.

fi5

God's sovereign dominion over the inferior crea-
tures, we should learn to acquiesce in all his dis-
posals of the affairs of the children of men, though
xoiitrary to our measures.

III. He resolves all into the absolute propriety
which God has in all the creatures; (v. 10.) In
whose hand is (he soul of every living thing: All
the creatures, and mankind particularly, derive
their being from him, owe their being to him,
depend upon him for the support of it, lie at his
mercy, are under his direction and dominion, and
'•ntirelv at his disposal, and at his summons must
resign their lives. All souls are his; and may he
not do what he will with his own? The name
Jehovah is used here, {v. 9.) and it is the only
time that we meet with it in all the discourses
between Job and his friends; for God was, in that
age, more known by the name of Shaddai, the
Almighty.

Those words, {v. 11.) Doth not the ear try
•words, as the mouth tastes meat? may be taken
either as the conclusion to the foregoing discourse,
or the preface to what follows. The mind of man
has as good a faculty of discerning between ti'uth
and error, when duly stated, as the palate has of
discerning between what is sweet and what is
bitter. He therefore demands from his friends a
liberty to judge for himself of what they had said;
and desires them to use the same liberty in judging
of what he had said; nay, he seems to appeal to
any man's impartial judgment in this controversy;
let the ear try the words on both sides, and it would
be found that he was in the right. Note, The ear
must try words before it receives them so as to
subscribe to them. As by the taste we judge what
food is wholesome to the body, and what not, so by
the spirit of discerning we must judge what doctrine
is sound, and savoury, and wholesome, and what
• not, 1 Cor. X. 15. — xi. 13.

12. With the ancw&nt is wisdom; and in
length of days understanding. 13. With
him is wisdom and strength, he hath coun-
sel and understanding. 14. Behold, he
breaketh down, and it caimot be built
again ; he shutteth up a man, and there
can be no opening. 15. Behold, he with-
holdeth the waters, and they dry up ; also
he sendeth them out, and they overturn the
earth. 1 6. With him is strength and wis-
dom : the deceived and the deceiver are
his. 17. He leadeth counsellors away
spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. 18.
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth
their loins with a girdle. 1 9. He leadeth
princes away spoiled, and overthroweth
the mighty. 20. He removeth away the
speech of the trusty, and taketh away the
understanding of the aged. 21. He poureth
contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the
strength of the mighty. 22. He discover-
eth deep things out of darkness, and bring-
eth out to light the shadow of death. 23.
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth
them: he enlargeth the nations, and strait-
eneth them again. 24. He taketh away
the heart of the chief of the people of the
ea.rth, and causeth them to wander in a
wilderness where there is no way. 25.

Vol. III. — I

They grope in the dark without light, and
he maketh them to stagger like a drunken
man.

This is a noble discourse of Job's concerning the
wisdom, power, and sovereignty, of God, in order-
ing and disposing of all the affairs of the children
of men, according to the counsel of his own will,
which none dares gainsay, or can resist. Take
both him and them out of the controversy in which
they were so waimly engaged, and they all spake
admirably well;- but in that, we sometimes scarcely
know what to make of them. It were well if wise
and good men, that differ in their apprehensions
about lesser things, would see it to be for their
honour and comfort, and the edification of others,
to dwell most upon those great things in which they
are agreed. On this subject. Job speaks like him-
self; here are no passionate complaints, no peevish
reflections, but every thing masculine and great.

I. He asserts the unsearchable wisdom, and ir-
resistible power, of God. It is allowed that among
men there is wisdom and understanding, v. 12.
But it is to be found only with some few, with the
ancient, and those who are blessed with length of
days, who get it by long experience and constant
experience; and, when they have got the wisdom,
they have lost their strength, and are unable to
execute the results of their wisdom: but now with
God there are both wisdom and strength, wisdom
to design the best, and strength to accomplish
what is designed; he does not get counsel and
understanding, as we do, by observation, but he
has it essentially and eternally in himself, v. 13.
What is the wisdom of ancient men compared
with the wisdom of the Ancient of days! It is
but little that we know, and less that we can
do; but God can do every thing, and no thought
can be withholden from fiim. Happy they who
haN e this God for their God, for they have infinite
wisdom and strength engaged for them! Foolish
and fruitless are all the attempts of men against

i him, V. 14. He breaketh down, and it cannot be
built again. Note, There is no contending with
the Divine Providence, nor breaking the measures'
of it. As he had said before; {ch. ix'. 12. ) He takes
away, and who can hinder him? So he says again,
What (iod says, cannot be gainsayed, nor what he
does, undone. There is no rebuilding what God
will have to lie in ruins; witness the tower of Ba-
bel, which the undertakers could not go on with;
and the desolations of Sodom and Gomorrah, which
could ne\er be repaired. See Isa. xxv. 2. Ezek.
xxvi. 15. Rev. xviii. 21. There is no releasing
of those whom God has condemned to a perpetual
imprisonment; if he shut up a man by sickness, re-
duce him to straits, and embarrass him in his af-
fairs, there can be no opening. He shuts up in the
grave, and none can break open those sealed doors;
shuts up in hell, in chains of darkness, and none
can pass that great gulf fixed.

II. He gives an instance, for the proof of it, in
nature, v. 15. He has the command of the waters,
binds them as in a garment, (Prov. xxx. 4.) holds
them in the hollow of his hand; (Isa. xl. 12.) and
he can punish the children of men either by the
defect, or by the excess of them: as men break the
laws of virtue by extremes on each hand, both de-
fects and excesses, while virtue is in the mean, so
God corrects them bv extremes, and denies them
the mercy which is in the mean. 1. Great droughts
are sometiires great judgments; he withholds the
waters, and they dry ufi; if the heaven be as brass,
the earth is as iron; if the rain be denied, fountains
dr}^ up, and their streams are wanted, fields are
parched, and their fruits are wanted, Amos iv. 7.
2. Great wet is sometimes a great judgment; he

06

JOB, Xll.

:aises the waters, and overturns the earth, the pro-
ductions of it, the buildings upon it. A sweeping
rain is said to leave no food, Prov. xxviii. 3. See
how many ways God has of contending with a sin-
ful people, and taking from them abused, forfeited,
mercies; and how utterly unable we are to contend
with him ! If we might invert the order, this verse
would fitly refer to Noah's flood, that ever-me-
morable instance of the divine power. God then,
in wrath, sent the waters out, and they overturn-
ed the earth; but, in mercy, he withheld them,
shut the windows of heaven, and the fountains of
the great deep, and then, in a little time, they
dried up.

III. He gives many instances of it in God's pow-
erful management of the children of men, crossing
their purposes, and serving his own by them and
upon them, overruling all their counsels, overpow-
ering all their attempts, and overcoming all their
oppositions. What changes does God make with
men, what turns does he give to them; how easily,
how surprisingly! •

In general, {y. 16.) With him is strength and
reason, so some translate it; strength and consis-
tency with himself: it is an elegant word in the
original. With him are the very quintessence and
extract of wisdom. With him are power and all
that is, so some read it. He is what he is himself,
and by him, and in him, all things subsist. Having
this strength and wisdom, he knows how to make
use, not only of those who are wise and good, who
willingly and designedly serve him, but even of
those who are foolish and bad, who, one would
think, could be made no way serviceable to the de-
signs of his providence: the deceived and the deceiv-
er are his; the simplest men that are deceived, are
not below his notice, the subtlest men that deceive,
cannot, with all their subtilty, escape his cogni-
zance. The world is full of deceit, the one half of
mankind cheats the other, and God suffers it, and
from both will, at last, bring glory to himself. The
deceivers make tools of the deceived, but the great
God makes tools of them both, wherewith he
works, and none can let him. He has wisdom and
might enough to manage all the fools and knaves
in the world, and knows how to serve his own pur-
poses by them, notwithstanding the weakness of
the one,' and the wickedness of the other. When
Jacob by a fraud got the blessing, the design of
God's grace was served; when Ahab was drawn by
a false prophecy into an expedition that was his
ruin, the design of God's justice was served; and in
both the deceived and the deceiver were at his dis-
posal. See Ezek. xiv. 9. God would not suffer
the sin of the deceiver, nor the misery of the de-
ceived, if he knew not how to set bounds to both,
and bring glory to himself out of both. Hallelujah,
the Lord God omnifiotent thus reigns; and it is
well he does, for otherwise there is so little wisdom,
and so little honesty, in the world, that it had all
been in confusion and ruin long ago.

He next descends to the particular instances of
the wisdom and power of God in the revolutions of
states and kingdoms: for thence he fetches his
proofs, rather than from the like operations of Pro-
vidence concerning private persons and families;
because the more high and public the station is, in
which men are placed, the more the changes that
befall them are taken notice of, and, consequently,
the more illustriously does Providence shine forth
in them. And it is easy to argue. If God can thus
turn and toss the great pnes of the earth, like a ball
in a large place, (as the projjhet speaks, Isa. xxii.
18.) much more the little ones; and with him, to
whom states and kingdoms must submit, it is surely
the greitest ma-ine'ss for us to contend. Some
think that Job here refers to the extirpation of those

powerful nations, the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the
Emim, and the Horites, (mentioned Gen. xi\ 5,
6. Deut. ii. 10. 20. ) in which, perhaps, it was par-
ticularly noticed, how strangely they were infatuat-
ed and enfeebled; if so, it is designed to show, that,
whenever the like is done in the affairs of nations,
it is God that doeth it, and we must therein observe
his so\ ereign dominion, even over those that think
themselves most powerful, politic, and absolute.
Compare this with that of Eliphaz, ch, v. 12, &c.
Let us gather up the particular changes here
specified, which God maltes upon peisons, either
for the destruction of nations, and the planting of
others in their room, or for the turning out of a
particular government and ministry, and the eleva-
tion of another in its room, which may be a blessing
to the kingdom; witness the glorious Revolution in
our own land twenty years ago, in which we saw
as happy an exposition as ever was given of this
discourse of Job s.

1. Those that were wise, are sometimes strange-
ly infatuated; and in that the hand of God must be
acknowledged; [y. 17.) He leadeth counsellors
away sfioiled, as trophies of his victory over them,
spoiled of all the honour and wealth they have got
by their policy, nay, spoiled of the wisdom itself for
which they have been celebrated, and the success
they promised themselves in their projects: his
counsels stand, while all their devices are bn ught
to nought, and their designs baffled, and so they are
spoiled both of the satisfaction and the reputation
of their wisdom. He maketh the judges fools: by
a work on their minds he deprives them of theii
qualifications for business, and so they become real-
ly fools; and by his disposal of their affairs he makes
the issue and event of their projects to be quite
contrary to what they themselves intended, and
so he makes them look like fools. The counsel of
Ahithophel, one in whom this scripture was re-
markably fulfilled, became foolishness, and he, ac-
cording to his name, the brother of a fool. See
Isa. xix. 13, The firinces of Zoan are become fools,
they have seduced Egyfit, even they that are the
stay of the tribes thereof Let not the wise man,
therefore, glory in his wisdom, nor the ablest coun-
sellors and judges be proud of their station, but
humbly depend upon God for the continuance nf
their abilities. Even the aged, who seem to hold
their wisdom by prescription, and think they have
got it by their own industry, and therefore have an
indefeisible title to it, may yet be deprived of it,
and often are, by the infirmities of age, which make
them twice children; he taketh away the under-
standing of the aged, v. 20. The aged, who were
most depended on for advice, fail those that de-
pended on them. We read of an old and yet fool-
ish king, Eccl. iv. 13.

2. Those that were high and in authority, arc
strangely brought down, impoverished, and enslav-
ed; and it is God that humbles them; (v. 18.) He
looseth the bond of kings, and taketh from them
the power wherewith they ruled their subjects,
perhaps enslaved them, and ruled them with rigour,-
stnps them of all the ensigns of their honour and
authority, and all the supports of their tyranny;
unbuckles their belts, so that the sword drops from
their side, and then no marvel if the crown quickly
drops from their heads; on which, immediately fol-
lows the girding of their loins with a girdle, a badge
of servitude, for servants went with their loins girt.
Thus he leads great princes away si^oiled of all
their power and wealth, and that in which they
pleased and prided themselves, v. 19. Note, Kings
are not exempt from God's jurisdiction. To us
thev are gods, but men to him, and subject to more
than the common changes of human life.

3. Those that were strong, are strangelv weak-

JOB XIII.

67

ened; and it is God that weakens them, (v. 21.)
and overthroivs the mighty, v. 19. Strong bodies
are weakened by age and sickness, powerful armies
moulder and come to nothing, and their strength
will not secure them from a fatal overthrow. No
force can stand before Omnipotence, no not that of
Go iath.

4. Those that were famed for eloquence, and
entrusted with public business, are strangely silenc-
ed, and h.ive nothing to say; {v. 20.) He removeth
away the f/ieech of the trusty, so that they cannot
speak as they intended, and as they used to do,
with freedom and clearness, but blunder and falter,
and make not.iing of it. Or, they cannot speak
what they intended, but the contrary, as Balaam,
who blessed those whom he was called to curse.
Let not the ui-ator therefore be proud of his rheto-
ric, nor use it to any bad purposes, lest God take
it away, whri made man's mouth.

5. Those th.it were honoured and admired,
strangely fall into disgrace; (x". 21.) He fioureth
contemfit iifion princes. He leaves them to them-
selves to do mean tilings, or alters the opinions of
men concerning them. If princes themselves dis-
honour G k1, and despise him, if they do indignities
to the people of God, and trample upon them, they
shall be lightly esteemed, and God will pour con-
tempt upon them. See Ps. cvii. 40. Commonly,
none more abject in themseh es, nor more abused
by others when they are down, than those who
were haughty and insolent when they were in
power.

6. That which was secret, and lay hid, is strangely
brought to light, and laid open; {y. 22.) He dis-
covers dec/i thing's out of darkness. Plots closely
laid are discovered and defeated; wickedness closely
committed, and artfully concealed, is discovered,
and the guilty brought to condign punishment;
secret treasons, (Eccl. x. 20.) secret murders, se-
cret whoredoms. The cabinet-councils of princes
are before God's eye, 2 Kings vi. 11.

7. Kingdoms have their ebbings and Rowings,
their waxings and wanings; and both are from
God; (f. 23.) He sometimes increases their num-
bers, and enlarges their bounds, so that they make
a figure among the nations, and become formidable;
but, after a while, by some undiscerned cause, per-
haps, they are destroyed and straitened, made few
and poor, cut short, and many of them cut off, and
so they are rendered despicable among their neigh-
bours; and they that were the head, become the
tail, of the nations. See Ps. cvii. 38, 39.

8. They that were bold and courageous, and
made nothing of dangers, are strangely cowed and
dispirited; and this also is the Lord's doing; {v.
24.) He takcth 'away the heart of the chief of the
peofile, that were their leaders and commanders,
and were most famed for their martial fire and
great achievements; when any thing was to be
done, they were heartless, and ready to flee at the
shaking of a leaf. Ps. Ixxvi. 5.

9. They that were driving on their projects with
full speedi, are strangely bewildered and at a loss;
they know not where they are, nor what they do,

' are unsteady in their counsels, and uncertain in
their motions, off and on, this way and that way,
wandering like men in a desert, {y. 24. ) groping
like men in the dark, and staggering like men in
drink, v. 25. Isa. lix. 10. Note, God can soon
non-plus the deepest politicians, and bring the
greatest wits to their wit's end; to show that where-
in they deal proudly, he is above them.

Thus are the revolutions of kingdoms wonder-
fully brought about by an overruling Providence.
Heaven and earth are shaken, but the Lord sits
King for ever, and with him we look for u kingdom
that cannot be shaken.

CHAP. XIII.

Job here comes to make application of what he had said in
the foregoing chapter ; and now we have him not in so
good a temper as he was in then ; for, I. He is very
bold with his friends, comparing himself with them,
notwithstanding the mortifications he was under, y. 1,2.
Condemning them for their falsehood, their iorwardness
to judgCj their partiality and deceitfulness, under colour
of pleading God's cause, (v. 4. . 8) and threatening them
with the judgments of God for their so doing, (v. 9 . .
12.) desiring them to be silent, (v. 5, 13, 17.) Ard,
turning from them to God, v. 3. II. He is very bold
with his God. I. In some expressions, his faith is very
bold, yet that is not more bold than welcome, v. 15, 16,
18. But, 2. In other expressions, his passion is rather
too bold in expostulations with God concerning the de-
plorable condition he was in, (v. 14, 19, &c.) complain-
ing of the confusion he was in, (v. 20 . . 22.) and the loss
he was at to find out the sin that provoked God thus to
afflict him ; and, in short, of the rigour of God's pro-
ceedings against him, v. 23 . . 28.

I. T O, mine eye hath seen all this., mine
jLA ear hath heard and understood it. 2.
What ye know, the same do I know also: 1
am not inferior unto you. 3. Surely I would
speak to the Almighty, and I desire to rea-
son with God. 4. But ye are forgers of lies,
ye are all physicians of no value. 3. Oh
that you would altogether hold your peace !
and it should be your wisdom. 6. Hear
now my reasoning, and hearken to the
pleadings of my lips. 7. Will you speak
wickedly for God ? and talk deceitfully
for him ? 8. Will ye accept his person ?
will ye contend for God ? 9. Is it good thai
he should search you put ? or, as one man
mocketh another, do ye so mock him ? 1 0.
He will surely reprove you, if ye do secret-
ly accept persons. 11. Shall not his ex-
cellency make you afraid ? and his dread
fall upon you? 12. Your remembrances
are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies
of clay.

Job here warmly expresses his resentments of the
unkindness of his friends.

I. He comes up with them as Cne that understood
the matter in dispute as well as they, and did not
need to be taught by them, v. 1, 2. They com-
pelled him, as the Corinthians did Paul, to com-
mend himself and his own knowledge, yet not in a
way of self-applause, but of self-justification. All
he had said before, his eye had seen confirmed by
many instances, and his ear had heard seconded by
many authorities, and he well understood it, and
what use to make of it. Happy they, who do not
only see and hear, but understand, "the greatness,
glory, and sovereignty, of God. This, he thought,
would justify what he had said before, {ch. xii. 3.)
which he repeats here; {v. 2.) ** JVhat ye know,
the same do I know also, so that I need not come to
you to be taught; lam not inferior unto you in wis-
dom." Note, Those who enter into disputation,
enter into temptation to magnify themselves, and
vilify their brethren, more than is fit, and therefore
ought to watch and pray against the workings of
pride. ,v,

n. He turns from them lb God; {v. 3.) Surely I
would speak to the Abnighty; as if he had said.
'* I can promise myself no satisfaction in talking to
you; O that I might have liberty to reason with
God! He would not be so hard upon me as ycu
are,"* The prince himself will perhaps give au-

68

JOB, XIII.

dience to a poor petitioner with more mildness, pa-
tience, and condescension, than the servants will. Job
would rather argue with God himself than with his
friends. See here, 1. What confidence they have
toward God, whose hearts coiyiemn them not of
reigning hypocrisy: they can, with humble bold-
ness, appear before him and appeal to him. 2.
What comfort they have in God, whose neighbours
unjustly condemn them: if they may not speak to
them with any hopes of a fair hearing, yet they
may speak to the Almighty, they have easy access
to him, and shall find acceptance with him.

III. He condemns them for their unjust and un-
charitable treatment of him, v. 4. 1. They falsely
accused him, and that was unjust; Ye are forgers
of lies. They framed a wrong hypothesis con-
cerning the Divine Providence, and misrepresented
it, as if it did never remarkably afflict any but
wicked men in this world; and from thence they
drew a false judgment concerning Job, that he was
certainly a hypocrite. For this gross mistake, both
in doctrine and application, he thinks an indictment
of forgery lies against them. To speak lies is bad
enough, though but at second hand, but to forge
them with contrivance and deliberation is much
worse: yet against this wrong neither innocency
nor excellency will be a fence. 2. They basely
deceived him, and that was unkind. They under-
took his cure, and pretended to be his physicians,
but they were all physicians of no value; "idol-
physicians, who can do me no more good than an
idol can." They were worthless physicians, who
neither understood his case, nor knew how to pre-
scribe to him; mere empirics, who pretended to
great things, but in conference added nothing to
him — ^he was never the wiser for all they said.
Thus, to broken hearts and wounded consciences,
all creatures, without Christ, are physicians of no
value, on which one may spend all, and be never
the better, but rather grow worse, Mark v. 26.

IV. He begs they would be silent, and give him
a patient hearing, v. 5, 6. 1. He thinks it would
be a credit to themselves, if they would say no
more, having said too much ah-eady; " Hold your
fieace, and it shall be your ivisdom, for thereby )^ou
will conceal your ignorance and ill-nature, which
now appear in all you say. " They pleaded that
they could not forbear speaking; {ch. iv. 2. — xi. 2,
3.) but he tells them that they had more consulted
their own reputation, if they had enjoined them-
selves silence. Better say nothing than nothing to
the purpose, or that which tends to the dishonour
of God, and the grief of our brethren. Even a
fool, when he holds his fieace, is counted wise, be-
cause nothing appears to the contrary, Prov. xvii.
28. And as silence is an evidence of wisdom, so it
IS a means of it, as it gives time to think and hear.
2. He thinks it would be a piece of justice to him,
to hear what he had to say; Hear novj my reason-
ing. Perhaps, though they did not interrupt him
in his discourse, yet they seemed careless, and did
not much heed what he said; he therefore begs
they would not only hear, but hearken. Note, We
should be verv willing and glad to hear what those
have to say for themselves, whom, upon any ac-
count, we are tempted to have hard thoughts of.
Many a man, if he cculd but be fairly heard, would
be fairly acquitted, even in the consciences of those
that run him down.

V. He endeavours Jo convince them of the wrong
they did to God's honour, while they pretended to
])lead for him, v. 7{Sl*- They valued themselves
upon it, that they spaKe^for God, were advocates
for him, and had undertaken to justify him and his
proceedings against Job. And being (as they
thought) of counsel for the Sovereign, they ex-
pected not only the ear of the court, and the last

word, but judgment on their side. But Job tells
them plainly, 1. That God and his cause did not
need such advocates; "Will you think to contend
for God, as if his justice were clouded, and wanted
to be cleared up, or as if he were at a loss what to
say, and wanted you to speak for him? Will you,
who are so weak and passionate, put in for the ho-
nour of pleading God's cause.""' Good work ought
not to be put into bad hands. Will you accept hia
fierson? If those who have not right on their side,
carry their cause, it is by the partiality of the judge
in favour of their persons; but God's cause is so
just, that it needs no such methods for the support
of it. He is a God, and can plead for liimseU";
(Judg. vi. 31.) and if you were for e\er silent, the
heavens would declare his righteousness. 2. That
God's cause suffered by such management. Under
pretence ( f justifying God in afflicting Job, they
magisterially condemn him as a hypocrite and a
bad man. "This" (says he) "is speaking wickedly,"
(for uncharitableness and censoriousness are wick-
edness, great wickedness; it is an offence to God to
wrong our brethren,) " it is talking deceitfully, for
you condemn one whom yet perhaps your own con-
sciences, at the same time, cannot but acquit. Your
principles are false, and your arguings fallacious;
and will it excuse you, to say. It is for God?" No,
for a good intention will not justify, much less will
it sanctify, a bad word or action. God's truth needs
not our lie, nor God's cause either our sinful policies
or our sinful passions. The wrath of man works
not the righteousness of God, nor may we do evil,
that good may come, Rom. iii. 7, 8. "Pious frauds
(as they call them) are impious cheats; and devciit
persecutions horrid profanations of the name of
God, as theirs who hated their brethren, and cast
them out, saying. Let the Lord be glorified, Isa.
Ixvi. 5. John xvi. 2.

VI. He endeavours to possess them with a feiir
of God's judgment, and so to bring them to a better
temper. Let them not think to impose upon God
as they might upon a man like themseh es, nor ex-
pect to gain his countenance in their bad practices,
by pretending a zeal for him ond his honour. " As
one man mocks another by flattering him, do you
think so to mock him and d'eceiv e him?" Assured-
ly, those who think to put a cheat upon God, will
prove to have put a cheat upon themselves; Be not
deceived, God is not mocked.

That they might not think thus to jest with God,
and affront him, he would have them to consider
both God and themselves, and then they would find
themselves unable to enter into judgment with him.

1. I^et them consider what a God he is, into
whose service they had thus thrust themselves, and
to whom they really did so much disservice, and
inquire whether they could give him a good account
of what thev did.

Consider,' (1.) The strictness rf his scrutiny and
inquiries concerning them; (f. 9.) ".Is it good that
he should search yoti out? Can you bear to ha\ e
the principles looked into, which you go upi n in
your censures, and to have the bottom of the mat-
ter found out?" Note, It concerns us all seriously
to consider whether it will be to our advantage or
no, that God searches the heart. It is good to an
upright man, who means honestly, that God should
search him, therefore he prays 'for it; Search me,
O God, and know my heart. God's omniscience is
a witness of his sincerity; but it is bad to him who
looks one wav and rows another, that God should
search him o'ut, and lay him open to his confusion,

(2.) The severity of his rebukes and displeasure
against them; (r. 'lO.) If ye do accept fierson.^,
though but secretly and in heart, he will surebi vr
prove you; he will be so far from being pleased
with vo\ir censures of me, tho\igh under rnh ur of

JOB, XIII.

C9

vindicating him, that he will resent them as a great
jjrovocation, hs any prince or great man would, if a
base action were done under the sanction of his
name, and under the colour of advancing his inte-
rest." N(,ite, What we do amiss, we shall certainly
be reproved for, one way or other, one time or
other, though it be done ever so secretly.

(3.) The ternn- of his majesty, which, if they
would duly stand in awe of, they would not do that
which would make them obnoxious to his wrath;
{v. 11.) " Shall not /lis excellency make you afraid?
You that ha\ e great knowledge of God, and profess
religion and a fear t.f him, how dare you talk at
this rate, and give yoursel.es so great a liberty of
speech? Ought ye not to ivalk and talk in the fear
of God? Nell. v. 9. Should not his dread fall ufion
you, and give cheek to your passions?" Methinks,
Job speaks this as one that did himself know the
terror of the Lord, and lived in a holy fear of him,
whate\'er his fi-iends suggested to the contraiy.
Note, [1.] There is in (iod a dreadful excellency.
He is the most excellent Being, has all excellencies
in himself, and in each infinitely excels any crea-
ture. His excellencies in themselves are amiable
and lovely. He is the most beautiful Being; but,
considering man's distance from God by nature,
and his detection and degeneracy by sin, his excel-
lencies are dreadful. His power, holiness, justice,
yea, and his goodness too, are dreadful excellencies.
They shall fear the Lord and his goodness. [2.]
A holy awe of this dreadful excellency should fall
up^n us, and make us afraid. This would awaken
impenitent sinners, and bring them to repentance,
and would influence all to be careful to please him,
and afraid of offending him.

2. Let them consider themselves, and what an
unequal match they were for this great God; {x>.
12.) "Your remembrances (all that in you for
which you hope to be remembered when you are
gone) are like unto ashes, worthless and weak, and
easily trampled on and blown away; your bodies are
like bodies of clay, mouldering and coming to no-
thing; your memories, you think, will survive your
bodies; but, alas! they are like ashes which will be
shovelled up with your dust." Note, The conside-
ration of our own meanness and mortality should
make us afraid of offending God, and is a good rea-
son why we should not despise and trample upon
our brethren. ■* Bishop Patrick gives another sense
of this verse: "Your remonstrances on God's be-
half are no better than dust, and the arguments
you accumulate, but like so many heaps of dirt."

1 3. Hold your peace, let me alone, that
I may speak, and let come on me what
will. 14, Wherefore do T take my flesh in
my teeth, and put my life in my hand ? 1 5.
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:
but I will maintain mine own ways before
him. 1 6. He also shall be my salvation :
for a hypocrite shall not come before him.
1 7. Hear diligently my speech and my de-
claration with your ears. 1 8. Behold now,
I have ordered my cause; I know that I
shall be justified. 19. Who zs he ^Aa^ will
plead with me ? for now, if I hold my
tongue, I shall give up the ghost. 20. Only
do not two things unto me ; then will I not
hide myself from thee. 21. Withdraw thy
hand far from me ; and let not thy dread
make me afraid : 22. Then call thou, and I

will answer; or let me speak, and answer
thou me.

Job here takes hold, fast hold, of his integrity, as
one that was resolved not to let it go, nor suffer it to
be wrested from him: his firmness in this matter is
commendable, and his warmness excusable.

I. He entreats his friends and all the company to
let him alone, and not inteirupt him in what he
was about to say, (t;. 13. ) but diligently to hearken
to it, V. 17. He would have his own protestation to
be decisive, for none but God and himself knew his
heart; " Be silent, therefore, and let me hear no
more of you, but hearken diligently to what I say,
and let my own oath for confirmation be an end of
the strife."

II. He resolves to adhere to the testimony his
own conscience gave of his integrity; and though
his friends called it obstinacy, that should not shake
his constancy; "I will speak in my own aefence,
and let come on me what will, v. 13. Let my friends
put what construction they pilease upon it, and think
the worse of me for it, I hope God will not make
my necessary defence to be my o/fence, as you do:
he will justify me, (f. 18.) and then nothing can
come amiss to me." Note, Those that are upright,
and have the assurance of their uprightness, may
cheerfully welcome every event. Come what will,
bene firse/iaratum pectus — they are ready for it.
He resolves {v. 15.) that he will maintain his own
ways; he will never part with the satisfaction he
had in having walked uprightly with Gcd; but,
though he could not justify every word he had
spoken, yet, in the general, his ways were good,
and he would maintain it; and why should he not,
since that was his great support under his present
exercises, as it was Hezekiah's, A^ow, Lord, re-
member how I have walked before tfiee! Nav, he
would n(t only not betray his own cause, oi- give it
up, but he would openly avow his sincerity, fc t-,
{v. 19.) "If I hold my tongue, and do not speak
for myself, my silence now will for ever silence me,
for I shall certainly give up the ghost," v. 19. " If
I cannot be cleared, yet let me be eased by what I
sav," as Elihu, ch. xxxii. 17, 20.

ill. He complains rf the extremity cf pain and
misery he was in; {x>. 14.) Wherefore do J take my
flesh in my teeth? That is, 1. "Why do I suffer
such agonies? I cannot but wonder that God should
lay so much upon me, when he knows I am not a
wicked man." He was ready, not only to rend his
clothes, but even to tear his flesh, through the
greatness of his affliction, and saw himself at the
brink of death, and his life in his hand, yet his
friends could not charge him with any enormous
crime, nor could he himself discover any; no mar-
vel then that he was in such confusion. 2. "Why
do I stifle and smother the protestations of my in-
nocency?" When a man with great difficulty keeps
in what he would say, he bites his lips: "Now,"
says he, " why may not I take liberty to speak,
since I do but vex myself, add to my torment, and
endanger my life, by refraining?" Note, It would
vex the most patient man, when he has lost every
thing else, to be denied the comfort (if he deserves
it) of a good crnscience and a good name.

IV. He comforts himself in God, and still keeps
hold of his confidenj[:e in him. Obserxe here,

1. What he dep|^nds upj|^God for: Justification
and Salvation, the two S^H things we hope for
through Christ. (1.) Jufl^Etion; {y. 18.) I have
ordered my cause, a'nd,^^|Pthe whole matter, I
know that I shall be iust'Jied. This he knew, be-
cause he knew that his Redeemer lived, ch. xix. 25.
They whose hearts are upright with God, in walk-
ing not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, may be

70

JOB, XIII.

sure that through Christ there shall be no condem-
nation to them, but that, whoever lays any thing to
their charge, they shall be justified. (2.) Salva-
tion; {v. 16.) He also shall be my salvation. He
means it not of temporal salvation, he had little ex-
pectation of that, but, concerning his eternal salva-
tion, he was very confident that God would not
only be his Saviour to make him happy, but his
Salvation, in the vision and fruition of whom he
should be happy. And the reason why he depended
on God for salvation, is, Because a hypocrite shall
not come before him. He knew himself not to be a
hypocrite, and that none but hypocrites are reject-
ed of God, and therefore concluded he should not
be rejected. Sincerity is our evangelical perfection,
nothing will ruin us but the want of that.

2. With what constancy he depends upon him;
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, v. 15.
This is a high expression of faith, and what we
sliould all labour to come up to; to trust in God,
though he slay us. That is, we must be well
pleased with God as a Friend, e\ en then when he
seems to come forth against us as an Enemy, ch.
xxiii. 8- -10. We must believe that all shall work
for good to us, e\en then when all seems to make
against us, Jer. xxiv. 5. We must proceed and
persevere in the way of our duty, though it costs us
uU that is dear to us in this world, even life itself,
Heb. xi. 35. We must depend upon the peiform-
aiice of the promise, when all the ways leading
to it are shut up, Rom. i\ . 18. We must rejoice in
Ciod, when we have nothing else to rejoice in,
and cleave to him, yea, though we cannot for the
present find comfort in him. In a dying hour, we
must derive from him li\ ing comforts; and this is
to trust in him, though he slay us.

V. He wishes to argue the case even with God
himself, if he might but have leave to settle the
preliminaries of the treaty, v. 20«'22. He had
desired {v. 3. ) to reason with God, and is still of
the same mind; he will not hide himself, that is, he
will not decline the trial, nor dread the issue of it,
but under two provisos, 1. That his body might
not be tortured with this exquisite pain; *' With-
draw thine hand far from me; for, while I am in
this extremity, I am fit for nothing. I can make a
shift to talk with my friends, but I know not how to
address myself to thee." When we are to converse
with God, we have need to be composed, and as
free as possible from every thing that may make us
uneasy. 2. That his mind might not be terrified
with the tremendous majesty of God; *' Let not
thy dread make me afraid; either let the manifes-
.ations of thy presence be familiar, or let me be
enabled to bear them without disorder and disturb-
ance." Moses himself trembled before God, so
did Isaiah and Habakkuk; O God, thou art terrible
even in thy holy places. "Lord," says Job, '• let
me not be put into such a consternation of spirit,
together Avith this bodily affliction, for then I must
certainly drop the cause, and shall make nothing
of it." See what a folly it is for men t(. put off
their repentance and conversion to a sick-bed, and
a death-bed! How can even a good man, much less
a bad man, reason with God, so as to be justified
before him, when he is upon the rack of pain, and
under the terror of the arrests of death? At such a
time, it is very bad to have rfhe great work to do,
but very comfortable trf have it done, as it was to
Job, who, if he migl^But havA a little breathing
time, was ready eithe^H^ Td near God speaking
to him by his won^^^K-eturn an answer; Call
thou, and I will ans^^mr, (2.) To speak to him
by prayer, and expect an answer; Let me speak,
and answer thou me, v. 22. Compare this with
ch. ix. 34, 35. where he speaks to the same purport.
In short, the badness of his case was at present such

a damp upon him, as he could not get over; othei
wise he was well assured of the goodness c;f hi^
cause, and doubted not but to have the comfort of it
at last, when the present cloud was over. With
such holy boldness may the upright come to the
throne of grace, not doubting but to find mercy
there.

23. How many are mine iniquities and
sins ! make me to know my transgression
and my sin. 24. Wherefore hidest thou
thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy ?

25. Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and
fro ? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble ?

26. For thou writest bitter things against
me, and makest me to possess the iniquities
of my youth. 27. Thou puttest my feet also
in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all
my paths ; thou settest a print upon the
heels of my feet. 28. And he, as a rotten
thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-
eaten.

Here,

I. Job inquires after his sins, and begs to have
them discovered to him: he looks up to God, and
asks him what was the number of them; How many
are mine iniquities, and what the particulars ( f
them.'* Make me to know my transgressioyis, v. 23.
His friends were ready enough to tell him how nu
merous and how heinous they were, ch. xxii. 5.
" But, Lord," says he, *• Let me know them from
Thee, for thy judgment is according to truth,
theirs is not." This may be taken, either, 1. As a
passionate complaint of hard usage, that he was
punished for his faults, and yet was not told what
his faults were. Or, 2. As a prudent appeal to God
from the censures of his friends; he desired that all
his sins might be brought to light, as knowing they
would then appear not so many, nor so mighty, as
his friends suspected him to be guilty of. Or, 3.
As a pious request, to the same purport with that
which Elihu directed him to; ch. xxxiv. 32, 'J'hat
which I see not, teach thou me. Note, A true jjeni-
tent is willing to know the worst of himself; and we
should all desire to know what our transgressions
are, that we may be particular in the confessic n (^f
them, and on our guard against them for the future.

II. He bitterly complains of God's withdrawings
from him; {y. 24.) Wherefore hidest thcu thy face'^
This must be meant of something more than h'S
outward afflictions; for the loss of estate, children,
health, might well consist with God's lo\ e; when
that was all, he blessed the name of the Lord; but
his soul was also sore vexed, and that is it which he
here laments. 1. That the favours of the Almighty
were suspended; God hid his face as one strange to
him, displeased with him, shy and" regardless of
him. 2. That the terrors of the Almighty were in-
flicted and impressed upon him; God held him for
his Enemy; shot his arrows at him, (ch. vi. 4.) and
set him as a mark, ch. vii. 20. Note, The holy God
sometimes denies his favours, and discovers his ter-
rors, to the best and dearest of his saints and ser-
vants in this world. This case occurs, not only in
the production, but sometimes in the progress, of
the divine life; evidences fi^- heaven are eclipsed,
sensible communions interrupted, dread of divine
wrath impressed, and the returns of comfort, for
the present, despaired of, Ps. Ixxvii. 7- -9. — Ixxxviii.
7,15,16. These are grievous burthens to a gra-
cious soul, that values God's loving-kindness as
better than life, Prov. XA'iii. 14. ./f wounded spvu

JOB. XIV.

71

w.nc can bear? Job, by asking here, Why hidest
thou thy facc'^ teaches us, that when, at any time,
we are uiidei' tiie sense of (rod's withdravvings, we
are concerned to inquire into the leason of them;
what is the sin for which he corrects us; and what
the good he designs us. Job's sufferings weie ty-
pical of the sufferings of Christ, from whom not
only men hid their faces, (Isa. liii. o. ) but God hid
his. Witness the darkness which surrounded him
on the cross, when he cried out, My God, my God,
•why hast thou forsaken me? If this were done to
tliese green trees, what shall be done to the dry.-"
They will for ever be forsaken.

III. He humbly pleads with God his own utter
inability to stand before him: (xf. 25.) "'■Wilt thou
break a leaf, fiursue the dry stubble? Lord, is it for
thine honour to trample upon one that is down al-
ready? Or to crush one that neither has, nor pre-
tends to, any power to resist thee?" Note, We
ought to have such an apprehension of the goodness
and compassion of God, as to believe that he will
not break the bruised reed, Matth. xii. 20.

IV. He sadly complains of God's severe dealings
with him: he owns it was for his sins that God thus
contended with him, but thinks it hard,

1. That his former sins, long since committed,
should now be remembered against him, and he
should be reckoned with for the old scores; {tj. 26. )
Thou ivritest bitter things against me. Afflictions
are bitter things; writing of them denotes delibera-
tion and determination, written as a warrant for
execution; it denotes also the continuance of his
affliction, for that which is written remains, and,
** Herein thou makest me to possess the iniquities of
my youth," that is, " thou punishest me tor them,
and thereby puttest me in mind of them, and
obligest me to renew my repentance for them."
Note, (].) God sometimes writes very bitter things
against the best and dearest of his saints and ser-
vants, both in outward afflictions and inward dis-
quiet; trouble in body and trouble in mind, that he
may humble them and prove them, and do them
good in their latter end. (2.) That the sins of
youth are often the smart of age, both in respect of
sorrow within, (Jer. xxxi. 18, 19.) and suffering
without, ch. XX. 11. Time does not wear out the
^uilt of sin. (3.) That when God writes bitter
things against us, his design therein is, to make us
possess our iniquities, to bring forgotten sins to
mind, and so to bring us to remorse for them, as to
break us off from them. This is all the fruit, to
take away our sin.

2. That his present mistakes and miscarriages
should be so strictly taken notice of, and so severely
animadverted upon; (t'. 27. ) "Thou flattest my
feet also in the stocks, not only to afflict me, and
expose me to shame, not only to keep me from
escaping the strokes of thy wrath, but that thou
mayest critically remark all my motions, and look
narrowly to all my paths, to correct me for every
false step, nay, for but a look awry, or a word mis-
applied; nay, thou settest a print upon the heels of
my feet, sc(>rest down every thing I do amiss, to
reckon for it; or, no sooner have I ti-odden wrong,
though ever so little, than immediately I smart for
it; the punishment treads upon the very heels of the
sin. Guilt, both of the oldest and of the freshest
date, is put together, to make up the cause of my
calamity." No^y, (1.) It was not true that God did
thus seek advantages against him; he is not thus
extreme to mark what we do amiss; if he were,
there were no abiding for us, Ps. cxxx. 3. But he
is so far from this, that he deals not with us accord-
ing to the desert, no not of our manifest sins which
are not found by secret search, Jer. ii. 34. This
therefore was the language of Job's melancholy;
his sober thoughts never represented God thus as a

i hard Master. (2.) But we should keep such a

I strict and jealous eye as this upon oursehesand

our cAvn steps, both for the discovery of sin j)ast,

and the prevention of it for the futui e. It is good

for us ;dl to ponder the path of our feet.

V. He finds himself wasting away apace under
the heav}' hand of God, v. 28. He, that is, man, as
a rotten thing, the principle of whose putrefaction is
in itself, consumes, even like a moth-eaten garment,
^vhich becomes continually worse and worse. Or,
He, that is, God, like rottenness, and like a moth,
consumes me. Compare this with Hos. v. 12. /
will be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of
Judah as rottenness: and see Ps. xxxix. 11. Note,
Man, at the best, wears fast; but, under God's re-
bukes especially, he is soon gone. While there is
so little soundness in the soul, no marvel there is so
little soundness in the flesh, Ps. xxxviii. 3.

CHAP. XIV.

Job had turned from speaking to his friends, finding: it to no
purpose to reason with them, and here goes on to speak
to God and himself. He had reminded his friends of
their frailty and mortality; (ch. xiii. 12.) here he reminds
himself of his own, and pleads it with God for some mi-
tigation of his miseries. We have here an account, I.
Of man's life, that it is, I. Short, v. 1. 2. Sorrowful, v.
2. 3. Sinful, V. 4. 4. Stinted, v. 5, 14. II. Of man's
death, that it puts a final period to our present life, to
which we shall not a^ain return, v. 7. . 12. That it
hides us from the calamities of life; (v. 13.) destroys the
hopes of life; (v. 18, 19.) sends us away from the busi-
ness of life; (v. 20.) and keeps us in the dark concern-
ing our relations in this life, how much soever we have
formerly been in care about them, v. 21, 22. III. The
use Job makes of all this. 1. He pleads it with God,
who, he thought, was too strict and severe with him; (v.
16, 17.) begging that, in consideration of his frailty, he
would not contend with him; (v. 3.) but grant him
some respite, v. 6. 2. He engages himself to prepare
for death, (v. 14.) and encourages himself to hope that
it would be comfortable to him, v. 15. This chapter is
proper for funeral solemnities; and serious meditations
on it will help us both to get good by the death of others,
and to get ready for our own.

1- T^MT^N that is born of a woman is of
1tJ_ few clays, and full of trouble. 2.
He Cometh forth like a flower, and is cut
down : he fleeth also as a shadow, and con-
tinueth not. 3. And dost thou open thine
eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into
judgment with thee ? 4. Who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean ? not one.

5. Seeing liis days are determined, the num-
ber of his months are with thee ; thou hast
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass:

6. Turn from him that he may rest, till he
shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

We are here led to think,

I. Of the original of human life; God is isdeed
its great Original, for he breathed into man the
breath of life, and in him we live; but we date it
from our biith, and thence we must date both its
frailty and its pollution. 1 Its frailty; Man, that is
born of a ivomaii^j^tfgmdore of few days, v. 1. It
may refer to ^'^^ J^^^B|h ^^'^ was called Eve,
because she wa^^HBlTOie\)f all living-: of her,
who, being decel^ByLthe tdtoter, was first in the
transgression, we l||H|H||9»d consequently de-
rive from her that^BBP|Fruptinn which 'both,
shorten our days, and sadcTen them. Or it may re-
fer to every man's immediate mother. The woman
is the weaker vessel, and we know that Partus se-
quitur ventrem — The child takes after the mother.

72

JOB, XIV.

Lei not the strong man therefore glory in his
strength, or in the strength of his father, but re-
member that he is born of a woman, and that, when
God pleases, the mighty mtn become as women,
Jer. li. 30. 2. Its pollution; {v, 4.) JVho can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean? If man be born of
a woman that is a sinner, how can it be otherwise
than that he should be a sinner? See ch. xxv. 4,
HoTV can he be clean that is born of a ivoman?
Clean children cannot come from unclean parents,
any more tlian pure streams from an impure spring,
or grapes from thorns. Our habitual corruption is
derived, with our nature, from our parents, and is
therefore bred in the bone: our blood is not only at-
tainted by a legal conviction, but tainted with an
hereditary disease. Our Lord Jesus, being made
sin for us, is said to be made of a woman. Gal. iv. 4.

IL Of the nature of human life; it is a flower,
it is a shadow, i;. 2. The flower is fading, and all
its beauty soon withers and is gone. The shadow
is fleeting, and its very being will soon be lost and
drowned in the shadows of the night: of neither do
we make any account, in neither do we put any
confidence.

in. Of the shortness and uncertainty of human
life; man is of few days. Life is computed, not by
months or years, but by days, for we cannot be sure
of any day but that it may be our last. These days
are few, fewer than we think of; few, at the most,
in comparison with the days of the first patriarchs,
much more, in comparison with the days of eter-
nity; but much fewer to most, who come short of
what we call the age of man. Man sometimes no
sooner comes forth, than he is cut down, comes
forth out of the womb, than he dies in the cradle,
comes forth into the world and enters into the busi-
ness of it, than he is hurried away as soon as he has
laid his hand to the plough. If not cut down imme-
diately, yet it flees as a shadow, and never conti-
nues in one stay, in one shape, but the fashion of it
passes away : so does this world and our life in it,
1 Cor. vii. 31.

IV. Of the calamitous state of human life; man,
as he is short-lived, so he is sad-li\ ed. Though he
had but a few days to spend here, yet if he might
rejoice in those few, it were well; (a short life and
a merry, is the boast of some;) but it is not so;
during these few days, he is full of trouble, not
only troubled, but full of trouble, either toiling or
fretting, grieving or fearing; no day passes without
some vexation, some hurry, some disorder or other.
They that are fond of the'world, shall have enough
of it. He is satur tremore^ull of commotion.
The fewness of his days creates him a continual
trouble and uneasiness in expectation of the period
of them, and he always hangs in doubt of his life.
Yet since man's days are so full of trouble, it is well
that tliey arc few, that the soul's imprisonment in
the body, and banishment from the Lord, are not
perpetu il, are not long. When we come to heaven,
our davs will be many, and perfectly free from
trouV)lc, and, in the mean time, faith, hope, and
lovcHbalance the present grievances.

V. Of the sinfulness of human life, arising from
the sinfulness of the human nature. So some un-
derstand that question; (y. 4.) Who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean? A clean performance
from an unclean princJaMM|^|e, actual transgres-
sions are the natural OTHJ!|SPMtl>itual corruption;
which is therefore ('.'aitcn onginM?^\\, because it is
the original of alljfur sins. 'Thrfholv Job here la-
ments, as all that^re sanctpBWo, running up the
streams to the fouXaiiMjsEff li. 5.) and some think
he intends it as a plea witli God for compassion;
"Lord, be not extreme to mark my sins of human
frailty and infirmity, for thou knowest my weak-
ness;'0 remember that I amjleah." The Chaldee

paraphrase has an observable reading of this verse-,
Who can make a man clean, that is polluted with
sin? Cannot one? that is, God. Or who but God,
who is one, and will sfiare him? God, by his al-
mighty grace, can change the skin of the Ethiopian,
the skin of Job, though clothed with worms.

VI. Of the settled period of human life, v. 5.
We are here assured, 1. That our life will come to
an end; our days upon earth are not numberless,
are not endless, no, they are numbered, and will
soon be finished, Dan. v. 26. 2. That it is deter
mined, in the counsel and decree of God, how long
we shall live, and when we shall die. The number
of our months is with God, at the disposal of his
power which JTannot be controlled, and under the
view of his omniscience which cannot be deceived.
It is certain that God's providence has the ordering
of the period of our lives, our times are in his hand,
the powers of nature depend upon him, and act un-
der him; in him we live and move, diseases are his
servants, he kills and makes alive, nothing comes
to pass by chance, no not the execution done by a
bow drawn at a venture ; it is therefore certain that
God's prescience has determined it before, for
known unto God are all his works. Whatever he
does, he determined, yet with a regard partly to
the settled course of nature, (the end and the means
are determined together,) and to the settled rules
of moral government, punishing evil, and reward-
ing good, in this life; we are no more governed by
the Stoic's blind fate than by the Epicurean's blind
fortune. 3. That the bounds God has fixed, we
cannot pass, for his counsels are unalterable, his
foresight being infallible.

These considerations Job here urges as reasons,

(1.) Why God should not be so strict in taking
cognizance of him, and of his slips, and failings;
{v. 3.) "Since I have such a corrupt nature with-
in, and am liable to so much trouble, which is a
constant temptation from without, dost thou open
thine eyes and fasten them upon such a one, ex-
tremely to mark what I do amiss? ch. xiii. 27. And
dost thou bring me, such a worthless worm as I
am, into judgment with thee who art so quick-
sighted to discover the least failing, so holy to hate
it, so just to condemn it, and so mighty to punish
it?" I'he consideration of our own inability to con-
tend with (iod, of our own sinfulness and weakness,
should engage us to pray. Lord, enter not into judg-
ment with thy servant.

(2.) Whv he should not be so severe in his deal-
ings with him; "Lord, I have but a little time to
live, I must certainly and shortly go hence, and the
few days I have to spend here are, at the best, full
of trouble. O let me have a little respite, v. 6.
Turn from afflicting a poor creature thus, and let
him rest a while; allow him some breathing time,
until he .thall accomplish, as a hireling, his day. It
is appointed to me once to die, let that one day suf-
fice me, and let me not thus be continually dying,
dying a thousand deaths. Let it suffi.ce th it my life,
at best, is as the day of a hireling, a day of toil and
labour; I am content to accomplish that, and will
make the best of the common hardships of human
life, the burthen and heat of the day; but let me
not feel those uncommon tortures, let not my life be
as the dav of a malefactor, all exerution-dav."
Thus may we find some relief under gi-eat troubles
by recommending ourselves to the compassion of
that God who knows our frame, will consider it,
and our being out of frame too.

7. For there is hope of a tree, if it he cut
down, that it will sprout a£:ain, and that the
tender hranch thereof will not cease. 8
Though the root thereof wax old in the

JOB, XIV.

73

earth, and the stock thereof die in the
ground ; 9. Yel through the scent of water
It will bud, and bring forth boughs like a
plant. 10. But man dieth, and wasteth
away ; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and
where is hel 11. As the waters fail from
the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth
up; 12. So man lieth down, and riseth
not : till the heavens be no more, they shall
not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
1.3. Oh that thou wouldest h\d§ me in the
grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret
until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest
appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14. If a man die, shall Ue Wve again? All
the days of my appointed time will I wait,
till my change come. 15. Thou shalt call;
and I will answer thee : thou wilt have a de-
sire to the work of thy hands.

We have seen what Job has to say concerning
life, let us now see what he h;!S to say concerning
death, which his thoughts were veiy much conver-
sant with, now that he was sick and sore. It is not
unseasonable, when we are in health, to think of
d) 'ng; but it is an inexcusable incogitancy, if, when
we are already taken into the custody of death's
messengers, we look upon it as a thing at a distance.
Job had already showed that death will come, and
that its hour is already fixed. Now here he shows,

1. That death is a removal for ever out of this
world. This he had spoken of before, (cA. vii. 9,
10.) and now he mentions it again: for though it be
a truth that needs not be proved, yet it needs to be
much considered, that it may be duly jwproved.

1. A man cut down by death, will not revive
again, as a tree cut down will. What hope there
is of a tree, he shows very elegantly, v. 7"9. If
the body of the tree be cut down, and only the stem
or stump left in the ground, though it seem dead
and dry, yet it will shoot out young boughs again,
as if it were but newly planted. The moisture of
the earth and the rain of heaven are, as it were,
scented and perceived by tlie stump of a tree, and
they have an influence upon it to revive it: but the
dead bodv of a man would not perceive them, nor
be in the least affected by them. In Nebuchadnez-
zar's dream, when his being deprived of the use of
his reason was signified by the cutting down of a
tree, his retnvn to it again was signified by the
leaving of the stump in the earth, with a band of
iron and brass, to be ivct with the dew of heaven.
Dan. iv. 15. But man has no such prospect of a
return to life. The vegetable life is a cheap and
easy thing, the scent of water will recover it; the
animal life, in some insects and fowls, is so, the heat
of the sun retrieves it; but the rational soul, when
once retired, is too great, too noble, a thing to be
recalled by any of the powers of nature; it is out of
the reach of sun or rain, and cannot be restored but
by the immediate operations of Omnipotence itself;
for, (t'. 10.) Man dieth and wasteth away; yea,
man giveth ufi the ghont, and where is he? Two
words are here used for man. Geber, a mighty
man, though mighty, dies; yidam, a man of the
earth, because earthy, gives up the ghost. Note,
Man is a dying creature; he is here described by
what occurs, (1. ) Before death; he wastes away, he
is continually wasting, dying daily, spending upon
the quick stock of life; sickness and old age are
wasting things to the flesh, the strength, the beauty.
(2.) In death; he gives up the ghost, the soul leaves

Vol. Ill — K

the body, and returns to God who gave it, the Fa-
ther of spirits. (3.) jlfter death; Where is he.'
He is not where he was, his place knows him no
more; but. Is he nowhere? So some read it. Yes,
he is somewhere; and it is a very awful considera-
tion to think where they are that have given up the
ghost, and where we shall be, when we give it up,
It is gone to the world of spirits, gone into eternity,
gone to return no more to this world.

2. A man laid down in the gra\ e will not rise up
again, v. 11, 12. Every night, we lie down to sleep,
and in the morning, we awake and rise again; but,
at death, we must lie down in the grave, not to
awake or rise again to such a world, such a state,
as we are now in, never to awake or arise until the
heavens, the faithful measures of time, shall be no
more, and, consequently, time itself shall come to
an end, and be swallowed up in eteinity ; so that the
life of man may fitly be compared to the waters
of a land-flood, which spread far and make a great
show, but they are shallow, and, when they are
cut off from the sea or river, the swelling and over-
flowing of which was the cause of them, they soon
decay and dry up, and their place knows them no
more. The waters of life are soon exhaled, and
disappear; the body, like some of those waters,
sinks and soaks into the earth, and is buried there;
the soul, like others of them, is drawn upward, to
mingle with the waters above the firmament. The
learned Sir Richard Blackmore makes this also to
be a dissimilitude; if the waters decay and be dried
up in the summer, yet they will return again in the
winter; but it is not so with the life of man. Take
part of his paraphrase in his own words:

A flowing river, or a standing lake,
May their dry banks and naked sliores forsake ;
Their waters may exhale and upward move,
Their channel leave to roll in clouds ;ibove ;
But the reluming winter will restore
What in the summer Ihey had lost bel'ore:
But if, O man, thy vital stieanis desert
Their purple channels, and defraud the heart,
With frcBli recruits they ne'er will be supply'd,
Nor feel their leaping life's returning tide.

11. That yet ther^ will be a return of man to life
again in another world, at the end of time, when
the heavens are no more. Then they shall awake,
and be raised out of their sleep. The resurrection
of the dead was, doubtless, an article of Job's creed,
as appears, ch. xix. 26. and to that, it should seem,
he has an eye here; where, in the belief of that, we
have three things:

1. An humble petition for a hiding-place in the
grave, i'. 13. It was not only in a passionate wea-
riness of this life, that he wished to die, but in a
pious assurance of a better life, to which, ''t length,
he should arise. O that thou wouldest hide me in
the grave! The grave is not only a resting-place,
but a hiding-place, to the people of God. God has
the key of the grave, to let in now, and to let out at
the resurrection. He hides men in the grave, as we
hide our treasure in a place of secrecy and safety;
and he who hides will find, and nothing shall be
lost. "O that thou wouldest hide me, not only
from the storms and troubles of this life, but foPthe
bliss and glory of a better life; let me lie in the
grave, reserved for ipimortalitv, in secret from all the
world, but not from thee, not from those eves which

saw my substance
in the lowest fiar^
\5, 16. There 1
fiast. As long as'
grave, so long the
which they were b
are under some of the

body is raised, it is wholly past; death, the last ene-
my, will then be totally destroyed. (2.) Until the
set time comes for my being remembered, as Noah
was remembered in the ark, (Gen. viii. 1. ) where

rst curi'^usly wrought

•arth," Ps. cxxxix.

Utitil thy wrath be

he saints lie in the

tins of that wrath

n of, so long they

sin; but when the

74 JOB, XIV.

God not only hid him from the destruction of the
old world, but reserved him for the reparation ot
a new world. The bodies of the saints shall not be
forgotten in the gra\ e; there is a time appointed, a
time set, for their being inquired after. We can-
not be sure that we shall look through the darkness
of our present troubles, and see good days after
them in this world; but if we can but get well to
the grave, we may with an eye of faith look through
the darkness of that, as Job here, and see better
days on the other side it, in a better world.

2. A holv resolution patiently to attend the will
of God both in his death and in his resurrection;
{v. 14.) If a man die, shall he live agaitJ all (he
days of my afifiointed time will I wait until my
change come. Job's friends proving miserable com-
forters, he set himself to be the more his own com-
forter; his case was now bad, but he pleases himself
with the expectation of a change. I think it can-
not be meant of his return to a prosperous condition
in this world. His friends indeed flattered him with
the hopes of that, but he himself all along despaired
of it. Comforts founded upon uncertainties, at best,
m\ist needs be uncertain comforts; and therefore, no
doubt, it is something more sure than that which he
here bears up himself with the expectation of. The
change he waits for must, therefore, be understood,
either, (1.) Of the change of the resurrection,
when the vile body shall be changed, (Phil. iii.
21.) and a great and glorious change it will be; and
tlien that question. If a man die, shall he live again?
must be taken by way of admiration. "Strange!
Shall these dry bones hve! If so, all the time ap-
pointed for the continuance of the separation be-
tween soul and body, my separate soul shall wait
until that change comes, when it shall be united
again to the body, and my flesh also shall rest in
hofie," Ps. xvi. 9. Or, (2.) Of the chance at death.
" If a man die, shall he live again? No, not such
a life as he now lives; and therefore I will patiently
wait until that change comes, which will put a pe-
riod to my calamities, and not impatiently wish for
the anticipation of it, as I have done." Observe
here, [1.] That it is a serioMs thing to die, it is a
work by itself. It is a cliange; there is a visible
change'in the body, its appearance altered, its ac-
tions brought to an end, but a greater change with
the soul, which quits the body, and removes to the
world of spirits, finishes its state of probation, and
enters upon that of retribution. This change will
come, and it will be a final change, not like the
transmutations of the elements, which return to
their former state. No, we must die, not thus to
live again. It is but once to die, and that had need
be well done that is to be done but once. An error
here is fatal, conclusive, and not again to be recti-
fied. [2.] That therefore it is the duty of every
one of us to wait for that change, and to continue
waiting all the days of our appointed time. The
time of life is an appointed time; that time is to be
reckoned by days, and those days are to be spent
in waiting for our change. That is. First, We must
expect that it will come, and think much of it. Se-
condly, We must desire that it would come, as
those "that long to be with Christ. Thirdly, We
must be willing to tarry until it does come, as those
that believe God's time to be the best. Fourthly,
We must give dilig^|Mh^et ready against it
comes, that it m ay jAniyPsB^h an ge to us.

3. A joyful expa^Bon of blijp and satisfaction in
this; (x>. 15.) Tli^HgJ0|B[^//, and I wi/l an-
swer thee. NoN^^^^^^^PPR* such a cloud, that
he could not, he a|HPi^»^swer; {ch. ix. 15, 35.

xiii. 22.) l)ut he comforted himself with this, that

there would come a time when God would call, and
he should answer; then, that is, (1.) At the resur-
rection; "Thou shalt call me out of the grave, by

the voice of the archangel, and I will answer, and
come at the call." The body is the work of God'n
hands, and he will have a desire to that, having
prepared a glory for it. Or, (2. ) At death; " Thou
shalt call my body to the grave, and my soul to
thyself, and I will answer. Ready, Lord, ready,
coming, coming; here I am." Gracious souls can
cheerfully answer death's summons, and appear to
his writ. Their spirits arc not forcibly required
from them, (as Luke xii. 20. ) but willingly resigned
by them, and the earthly tabernacle not violently
pulled down, but voluntarily laid down; with this
assurance, "Thou wilt have a desire to the work
of thy hands; thou hast mercy in store for me, not
only as mad# by thy providence, but new-made by
thy grace; otherwise he that made them will not
save the?n. Note, Grace in the soul is the work of
God's own hands, and theiefoie he will not forsake
it in this world, (Ps. cxxxviii. 8. ) but will have a
desire to it, to perfect it in the other, and to crown
it with endless glory.

16. For now thou numberest my steps,
dost thou not watch over my sin? 17. My
transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou
sewest up mine iniquity. 18. And surely
the mountain falling cometh to nought, and
the rock is removed out of 'his place. 19.
The waters wear the stones : thou washest -
away the things which grow out of the dust
of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope
of man. 20. Thou prevailest for ever against
him ; and he passeth : thou changest his
countenance, and sendest him away. 21.
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth
it not; and they are brought low, but he
perceiveth it not of them. 22. But his flesh
upon him shall have pain, and his soul within
him shall mourn.

Job here returns to his complaints; and though he
is not without hope of future bliss, he finds it very
hard to get over his present grievances.

I. He complains of the particular hardships he
apprehendfed himself under from the strictness of
God's justice, v. 16, 17. Therefore he longed to
go hence to that world where God's wrath will be
past, because now he was under the continual
tokens of it, as a child, under the severe discipline
of the rod, longs to be of age. "When shall my
change come? For now thou seemest to me to
number my steps, and watch over my sin, and seal
it up in a bag, as bills of indictment are kept safe,
to be produced against the prisoner." See Deut.
xxxii. 34. "Thou takest all advantages against
me, old scores are called over, every infirmity is
animadverted upon, and no sooner is a false step
taken, than I am beaten for it. " Now, 1, Job does
right to the divine justice, in owning that he smart-
ed for his sins and transgressions, that he had done
enough to deserve all that was laid upon him ; for
there was sin in all his steps, and he was guilty of
transgression enough to bring all this ruin upon him,
if it were strictly inquired into: he is far from sav-
ing that he perishes being innocent. But, 2. He
does wrong to the divine goodness, in suggesting that
God was extreme tc mark what he did amiss, and
made the worst of eveiT thing: he spake to this
pui-port, ch. xiii. 27. It was unadvisedly said, and
therefore we will not dwell too much upon it. God
does indeed see all our sins, he sees sin in his own
people, but he is not severe in reckoning with us,
nor is the law ever stretched against us, but we are

JOB, XV

punished less than our iniquities deserve. God
does indeed seal and sow up, against the day of
wrath, the transgression of the impenitent, but the
'sins of his people he blots out as a cloud.

II. He complains of the wasting condition of man-
kind in general: we live in a dying world; who
knows the fiower of God's anger, by ivhich we are
consumed and troubled, and in which all our days
are passed away? See Ps. xc. 7- -9, 11. And who
can bear up against his rebukes? Ps. xxxix. 11.

1. We see the decays of the earth itself. (1. ) Of
the strongest parts of it, v. 18. Nothing will last
always, for we see even mountains moulder and
come to nought, they wither and fall as a leaf, rocks
wax old and pass away by the contintal beating of
the sea against them. The waters wear the stones
with constant dropping, 7ion vi, sed scs/ie cadendo —
not by the violence, but by the consta?icy, with which
they fall. On this earth every thing is the worse
for the wearing; Temfias edax rerum — Time de-
vours all things. It is not so with the heavenly
bodies. (2.) Of the natural products of it: the
things which grow out of the earth, and seem to be
firmly rooted in it, are sometimes, by an excess of
rain, washed away, v. 19. Some think he pleads
this for relief: "Lord, my patience will not hold
out always, even rocks and mountains will fail at
last; therefore cease the controversy."

2. No marvel, then, if we see the decays of man
upon the earth, for he is of the earth, earthy. Job
begins to think his case is not singular, and there-
fore he ought to reconcile himself to the common lot.
We perceive by many instances,
(1.) How vain it is to expect much from the en-
joyments of life; " Thou destroyest the hope of
man," that is, " puttest an end to all the projects
he had framed, and all the prospects of satisfaction
he had flattered himself with." Death will be the
destruction of all those hopes which are built upon
worldly confidences, and confined to worldly com-
forts. Hope in Christ, and hope \\\ heaven, death
will consummate, and not destroy.

(2. ) How vain it is to struggle against the assaults
of death; (x;. 20. ) Thou prevailest for ever against
him. Note, [1.] Man is an unequal match for
God; whom God contends with, he will certainly
prevail against, prevail for ever against, so that
they shall never be able to make head again. [2. ]
The stroke of death is irresistible; it is to no pur-
pose to dispute its summons; God prevails against
man, and he passes away, and, lo, he is not. Look
upon a dying man, and see,

First, How his looks are altered. Thou changest
his countenance, two ways. 1. By the disease of
his body. When a man has been a few days sick,
what a change is there in his countenance ! How
much more when he has been a few minutes dead!
The countenance which was majestic and awful,
becomes mean and despicable; that which was
lovely and amiable, becomes ghastly and frightful:
Bury my dead out of my sight. Where then is
the admired beauty? Death changes the counte-
nance, and then sends us away out of this world,
gives us one dismission hence, never to return. 2.
By the discomposure of his mind. Note, The ap-
proach of death will make the strongest and stoutest
to change countenance; it will make the most merry
smiling countenance to look grave and serious, and
the most bold daring countenance to look pale and
timorous.

Secondly, How little he is concerned in the affairs
of his family, which once lay so near his heart.
W'hen he is in the hands of the harbingers of death,
suppose struck with a palsy or apoplexy, or deliiious
'\n a fever, or in conflict with death, tell him then

76

he perceives it not, v. 21. He is going to that
world where he will be a perfect stranger to all
those thmgs which here filled and affected him.
1 he consideration of this should moderate our cares
concerning our children and families. God will
know what comes of them when we are gone, to
him therefore let us commit them, with him let us
leave them, and not burthen ourselves with need-
less, fruitless, cares concerning them.

Thirdly, How dreadful the agonies of death are;
(x-. 22.) While his flesh is upon him, (so it may be
read,) that is, the body he is so loath to lay down.
It shall have pain; and while his soul is within him,
that is, the spirit he is so loath to resign, it shall
mourn. Note, Dying work is hard work; dyine
pangs are, commonly, sore pangs. It is folly, there-
tore, for men to defer their repentance to a death-
bed, and to have that to dc, which is the one thin?
needful, when they are really unfit to do any thingi
but it IS true wisdom, by making our peace with
God in Christ, and keeping a good conscience, to
treasure up comforts which will support and relieve
us against the pains and sorrows of a dying hour.

... V. »^ . ._. , ^,. ... ^v^.....vvv .. .u.i .^.^(.fcVll, VV^»» XXltll tllCIl

the most agreeable, news, or the most painful, con-
cerning his children, it is all alike, he knows it not, I

CHAP. XV.

Perhaps Job was so clear, and so well satisfied, in the <rood-
ness of his own cause, that he thought if he had norcon-
vinced, yet he had, at least, silenced^ all his three friends •
but, it seems, he had not ; in this chapter, they be-rin a
second attack upon him, each of them chargino-^'him
alresh, with as much vehemence as before. It is n'atural
to us to be fond of our own sentiments, and therefore to
be firm to them, and with difficulty to be brouo-ht to re-
cede from them. Eliphaz here keeps close to the princi-
pies upon which he had condemned Job, and I He re-
proves him for justifying himself, and fathers on him
many evil things which are unfairly inferred from thence
V. 2. .13. II. He persuades him to humble himsell be'
lore Uod, and to take shame to himself, v. 14 . . 16. Ill
He reads him a long lecture concerning the woeful es^
tate ol wicked people, who harden their hearts ao-ainst
C>od and the judoments which are prepared for them v
17 . ,35. A good use may be made both of his reproofs,
u u ^ ^'"^ plain,) and of his doctrine, (for ii is sound,)
though both the one and the other are misapplied to Job.

1. ^HEN answered Eliphaz the Tema-

X nite, and said, 2. Sliould a wise ♦
man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly
with the east wind ? 3. Should he reason
with unprofitable talk ? or with speeches
wherewith he can do no good ? 4. Yea,
thou easiest off fear, and restrainest prayer
before God. 5. For thy mouth uttereth
thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue
of the crafty. 6. Thine own mouth con
demneth thee, and not I; yea, thine owu
hps testify against thee. 7. Art thou the
first man ihat was born ? or wast thou made
before the hills ? 8. Hast thou heard the
secret of God ? and dost thou restrain wis-
dom to thyself? 9. What knowest thou,
that we know not ? what understandest
thou, which is not in us ? 10. With us are
both the gray-headed and very aged men,
much elder than tby father. 11. Are the
consolations of GM small with thee ? is
there any secret th!j% with jfiee ? 1 2. Why
doth thy heart cany thee, away ? and what
do thine eyes- wink at, 13. That thou
turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest
such words go out of thy mouth ? 1 4. What

76

JOB, XV.

IS man, that he should be clean ? and he
ivliicli is born of a woman, that he should
be righteous? 15. Behold, he putteth no
trust in his saints ; yea, the heavens are not
clean in his sight: 16. How much more
abominable and filthy is man, which drink-
eth iniquity like water ?

Eliphaz here falls very foul upon Job, because he
contradicted what he and his colleagues had said,
and did not acquiesce in it, and applaud it, as they
expected. Proud people are apt thus to take it
very much amiss, if they may not have leave to
dictate and give law to all about them, and to cen-
sure those as ignorant and obstinate, and all that is
naught, who cannot, in every thing, say as they say.

Several great crimes Eliphaz here charges Job
with, only because he would not own himself a
hvpocrite.

I. He charges him with folly and absurdity; (v.
2, 3.) That whereas he had been reputed a wise
man, he had now quite forfeited his reputation; any
one would say that his wisdom was departed from
him, he talked so extravagantly, and so little to the
purpose. Bildad began thus, {ch. viii. 2. ) and Zo-
phai-. ch. xi. 2, 3. It is common for angry dis-
putants thus to represent one another's reasonings
as impertinent and ridiculous, more than there is
cause, forgetting the doom of him that calls his
brother liaca, and Thou Fool. It is true, 1. That
there is in the world a great deal of vain knowledge,
science falsely so called, that is useless, and there-
fore worthless. 2. That this is the knowledge that
puffs up, with which men swell in a fond conceit of
their own accomplishments. 3. That whatever
vain knowledge a man may have in his head, if he
would be thought a wise man, he must not utter it,
but let it die with himself, as it deserves. 4. Un-
profitable talk is evil talk: we must give an account,
m the great day, not only for -wicked words, but for
idle words. Speeches, therefore, which do no good,
which do no service either to God or our neighbour,
or no justice to ourselves, which are no way to the
use of edifying, were better unspoken. Those
words which are as wind, light and empty, espe-
cially which are as the east wind, hurtful and per-
nicious, it will be wrong to fill either oursehes or
others with, for they will pass very ill in the ac-
count. 5. Vain knowledge and unprofitable talk
ought to be reproved and checked, especially in a
wise man, whom it worst becomes, and who does
most hurt by the bad example of it.

II. He charges him with impiety and irreligion;
(v. 4.) " 77ioii easiest off fear," that is, "the fear
of God, and that regard to him which thou shouldest
have; and then thou restrainest prayer." See what
religion is summed up in — fearing God, and praying
to him; the former the most needful principle, the
latter the most needful practice. Where no fear
of God is, no good is to be expected; and those who
live without prayer, certainly li\e without (iod in
the world. Those who restrain prayer, prove that
they cast off fear. Surely those ha\ e no reverence
of Clod's majesty, no dread of his wrath, and are in
no care about their souls and eternity, who make
no applications to God for his grace. Those who
are prayerless, are fearleaf 4p^ graceless. When
the fear of God is cast o^^ll sin is let in, and a
door open to all rnanner of wijofaneness. It is espe-
cially bad with tlilie who'^ave had some fear of
God, but have now cast it off, have been frequent
in prayer, but now restrain it. How are they fallen!
How is their first love lost! It denotes a kind of
force put upon thcmseh es. The fear of God would
cleave to them, but they throw it off; prayer would

be uttered, but thev restrain it, and, in brth, baffle
their convictions. Those who either omit prayer,
or straiten and abridge themselves in it, quenching
the spirit of adoption, and denynig themselves the'
liberty they might take in the duty, restrain prayer:
this is bad enough, but it is worse to restrain ethers
from prayer, to prohibit and discourage prayer, as
Darius, Dan. vi. 7.

Now Eliphaz charges this upon Job, either, 1.
As that which was his own practice. He thought
that Job talked of God with such liberty as if he
had been his equal, and that he charged him sc
vehemently with hai'd usage of him, and chullenged
him so often to a fair trial, that he had quite thrown
off all religious regard to him. This charge was
utterly false, and yet wanted not some colour. We
ought not only to take care that we keep up prayer
and the fear of God, but that we never drop any
unwary expressions, which may give occasion to
those who seek occasion to question our sincerity
and constancy in religion. Or, 2. As that which
others would infer from the doctrine he maintain-
ed. " If this be true," (thinks Eliphaz,) "which
Job says, that a man may be thus sorely afflicted,
and yet be a good man, then farewell all religion,
farewell prayer and the fear of God. If all things
come alike to all, and the best men may have the
worst treatment in this world, every one will be
ready to say. It is vain to serve God; and ivhat pro-
Jit is it to keep, his ordinances? (Mai. iii. 14.) Verily
I have cleansed my hands in vain, (Ps. Ixxiii. 13,
14.) Who will be honest, if the tabernacles of
robbers prosper? (ch. xii. 6.) If there be no for-
giveness with God, {ch. vii. 21.) who will fear him?
(Ps. cxxx. 4.) If he laugh at the trial of the inno-
cent, {ch. ix. 23.) if he be so difficult of access, {ch.
ix. 32.) who will pray to him?" Note, It is a piece
of injustice, which even wise and good men are too
often guilty of, in the heat of disputation, to charge
upon their adversaries those consequences of their
opinions, which are not fairly drawn from them,
and which really they abhor. This is not doing as
we would be done by.

Upon this strained inuendo Eliphaz grounds that
high charge of impiety; {v. 5.) Thy mouth utters
thine iniquity, teaches it, so the word is. "Thou
teachest others to have the same hard thoughts of
God and religion that thou thyself hast." It is bad
to break even the least of the commandments, but
worse to teach men so, Matth. v. 19. If we ever
thought evil, let us lay our hand upon our mouth
to suppress the evil thought, (Prov. xxx. 32.) and
let us by no means utter it, that is putting an impri-
matur to it, publishing it with allowance, to the dis-
honour of God, and the damage of others. Obser\ e.
When men have cast off fear and prayer, theii
mouths utter iniquity. They that cease to do good,
socn learn to do evil. What can we expect but all
manner of iniquity from those that arm nnt them-
selves witli the grace of God against it? But, thou
choosest the tongue of the frq/?t/, that is, "Thru
utterest thine iniquity with some show and pretence
of piety, mixing some good words with the bad, as
tradesmen do with their wares to help them off."
The mouth of iniquity could not do so much mis
chief as it does, without the tongue of the craft\
The sei-pent beguiled E\e through his subtilt ,•
Rom. xvi. 18. The tongue of the crafty speaks
with design and deliberation; and therefore the>
that use it may be said to choose it, as that which
will serve their purpose better than the tongue of
the upright: but it will be found, at last, that ho
nesty is the best policy.

Eliphaz, in his first discourse, had proceeded
against Job upon mere surmise; (ch, iv, 6, 7.) but
now he has got proof against him from his own dis-
courses; {v. 6.) Thine own mouth condemns theCt

JOB, XV.

77

n7id not I. But he should have considered that he
and his fellows had provoked him to say that
which now they took advantage of; and that was
not fair. Those are most eifectually condemned,
tiiat are condemned by themselves, Tit. iii. 11.
Luke xix. 22. Many a man needs no more to sink
him, than for his own tongue to fall upon him.

in. He charges him with intolerable arrogancy
;ind self-conceitedness. It was a just, and reasona-
ble, and modest, demand that Job had made; {ch.
xii. 3.) AUonv that 1 have understaTiding as well as
you: but see how they seek occasion against him;
that is misconstrued, as if he pretended to be wiser
than any man. Because he will not grant to them,
tliey will have it thought that he claims to himself,
the monopoly of wisdom, x'. 7* '9. As if he thought
he had tlie advantage of all mankind, 1. In length
of acquaintance with the world, which furnishes
men with so much the more experience; "jirt thou
the first man that was born, and, consequently,
senior to us, and better able to give the sense of an-
tiquity, and the judgment of the tirst and earliest,
tiie wisest and purest, ages? Art thou prior to
Adam?" (So it may be read. ) " Did not he suffer
for sin; and yet wilt not thou, who art so great a suf-
ferer, own thyself a smner? JVast thou made before
MeA/7/s, as Wisdom herself was? (Prov.viii. 23, occ.)
Must God's counsels, which are as the great moun-
tains, (Ps. xxxvi. 6.) and immoveable as the ever-
lasting hills, be subject to thy notions, and bow to
them? Dost thou know more of the world than
any of us do? No, thou art but of yesterday, even
as we are," ch. viii. 9. Or, 2. In intimacy of ac-
quaintance with God; {v. 8.) "■Hast thou heard the
secret of God? Dost thou pretend to be of the ca-
binet-council of Heaven, that thou canst gi\ e better
reasons than others can for God's proceedings?"
There are secret things of God, which belong not
1 1 us, and which, therefore, we must not pretend
to account for: those are daringly presumptuous
who do. He also represents him, (1. ) As assuming
to himself such knowledge as none else had; "Dost
thou restrain wisdom to thyself, as if none were wise
besides?" Job had said, {ch. xiii. 2.) What ye
know, the same do I know also; and now they return
upon him, according to the usage of eager dispu-
tants, who think they have a privilege to com-
mend themselves; What knowest thou that we know
not? How natural are such replies as these, in the
heat of argument! But how simple do they look
afterward, upon the review ! (2. ) As opposing the
stream of antiquity, a venerable name, under the
shade of which all contending parties strive to shel-
ter themselves; " With us are the gray-headed, and
very aged men, v. 10. We have the fathers on
our side; all the ancient doctors of the church are
of our opinion." A thing soon said, but not so soon
proved; and, when proved, truth is not so soon dis-
covered and proved by it, as most people imagine.
David preferred right scripture-knowledge before
that of antiquity; (Ps. cxix. 100.) / understand
more than the ancients, because I keep, thy firecepts.
Or perhaps one or more, if not all three, of these
friends of Job, were elder than he, {ch. xxxii. 6. )
and therefore they thought he was bound to ac-
knowledge them to be in the right. This also serves
contenders to make a noise with, to very little pur-
pose. If they are elder than their adversaries, and
can say they knew such a thing before they were
born, it will serve to make them arrogant and
overbearing; whereas the eldest are not always
the wisest, ch. xxxii. 9.

IV. He charges him with a contempt of the
counsels and comforts that were given him by his
friends; {v. 11.) Are the consolations of God small
with thee? 1. Eliphaz takes it ill that Job did not
value the cctiforts, which he and his friends admi-

nisterea to him, more than it seems he did, and did
not welcome every word they said as true and im-
portant. It is true, they had said some very good
things, but, in their application to Job, thev were
miserable comforters. Note, We are apt to think
that gieat and considerable, which we oursehes
say, when others perhaps, with good reason, think
it small and trifling. Paul found that those who
seemed to be somewhat, yet, in conference, added
nothing to him. Gal. ii. 6. 2. He represents tliis as
a slight put upon divine consolations in general, as
if they were of small account with him, whereas
really they were not: if he had not highly valued
them, he could not have borne up as he did under
his sufferings. Note, (1. ) The consolations of God
are not in themselves small. Divine comforts are
great things, that is, the comfort which \% from
God, especially the comfort which is in God. (2.)
The consolations of God not being small in them-
selves, it is very bad if they be small with us. It
is a great affront to God, and an evidence of a de-
generate, atpraved, mind, to disesteem and under-
value spiritual delights, and despise the pleasant
land. "What!" (says Eliphaz,) "is there any
secret thing with thee? Hast thou some cordial to
support thyself with, that is a Proprium, an Ar-
canum, that no body else can pretend to, or knows
any thing of?" Or, " Is there some secret sin har-
boured and indulged in thy bosom, which hinders
the operation of divine comforts?" None disesteem
divine comforts but those that secretly affect the
world and the flesh.
i V. He charges him with opposition to God him-
self, and to reUgion; (x*. 12, 13.) " Why doth thine
heart carry thee away into such indecent, irreli-
gious, expressions?" Note, Every man is tempted,
when he is drawn away of his own lust. Jam. i. 14.
If we fly off from God and our duty, or fly out into
any thing amiss, it is our own heart that carries us
away. If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
There is a violence, an ungovernable impetus, in
the turnings of the soul; the corrupt heart carries
men away, as it were, by force, against their con-
victions. "What is it that thine eyes wink -At}
Why so careless and mindless of what is said to
thee, hearing it as if thou wert half asleep? Why
so scornful, disdaining what we sav, as if it were
below thee to take notice of it? What have we
said, that deserves to be thus slighted > Nay, that
thou turnest thy spirit against God.?" It was bi'd
that his heart was carried away from God, t)ut
much worse that it was turned against God. But
they that forsake God will soon break out in open
enmity to him. But how did this appear? "Thou
lettest such words go out of thy mouth, reflc'-.ting
on God, and his justice and goodness." It is the
character of the wicked, that they set their ?nouth
against the heavens, (Ps. Ixxiii. 9.) which is a
certain indication that the spirit is turned against
God. He thought Job's spirit was soured against
God, and so turned from what it had been, and exas-
perated at his dealings with him. Eliphaz wanted
candour and charity, else he would not have put
such a harsh construction upon the speeches of one
that had such a settled reputation for piety, and
was now in temptation. This was, in effect, to give
the cause on Satan's side, and to own that Job had
done as Satan said he would, had ciosed God to his
face.

VI. He charges hinj with justifying himself to
that degree as even to deny his sharein the com-
mon corruption and pollution of. the human nature,
{v. 14.) What is man, that he should be clean?
that is, that he should pretend to be so, or that an<5
should expect to find him so. What is he, that is
born of a woman, a sinful woman, that he should
be righteous? Note, 1. Righteousness is cleanness;

18

JOB, XV.

it makes us acceptable to God, and easy to our-
selves, Ps. xviii. 24. 2. Man, in his fallen state,
cannot pretend to be clean and righteous before
God, either to acquit himself to God's justice, or
recommend himself to his favour. 3. He is there-
fore to be adjudged unclean and unrighteous, be-
cause born of a woman, from whom he derives a
corrupt nature, which is both his guilt and his pol-
lution. With these plain truths Eliphaz thinks to
convince Job, whereas he had just now said the
same; (ch. xi\. 4.) Who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean? But does it therefore follow
that Job is a hypocrite, and a wicked man, which
is all that he denied.' By no means. Thougli man,
as born of a woman, is not clean, yet, as born again
of the Spirit, he is.
Further to evince this, he here shows,
(1.) That the brightest creatures aie imperfect
and impure before God, v. 15. God places no con-
fidence in saints and angels; he employs both, but
trusts neither with his service, without giving them
fresh supplies of strength and wisdom for it, as
knowing they are not sufficient of themselves, nei-
ther more nor better than his grace makes them.
He takes no complacency in the heavens them-
selves. How pure soever they seem to us, in his
eye they have many a speck and many a flaw;
The heavens are not clean in his sight. If the stars
(says Mr. Caryl) have no light in the sight of the
sun, what light has the sun in the sight of God?
See Isa. xxiv. 23.

(2.) That man is much more so; {v. 16.) Hotv
much more abominable and filthy is man.' If saints
ai-e not to be trusted, much less sinners. If the
hea\ens are not pure, which are as God made
them, much less man, who is degenerated. Nay,
he is abominable and filthy in the sight of God,
and, if ever he repent, he is so in his own sight,
and therefore he abhors himself. Sin is an odious
thing, it makes men hateful. The body of sin is so,
and is therefore called a dead body, a loathsome
thing. Such is the filthiness of man, that he drinks
iniquity (that abominable thing which the Lord
hates) as greedily, and with as much pleasure, as a
man drinks water when he is thirsty. It is his con-
stant di-ink; it is natural to sinners to commit ini-
quity. It gratifies, but does not satisfy, the appetites
of the old man. It is like water to a man in a dropsy.
The more men sin, the more they would sin,

17. 1 will show thee, hear me; and that
which I have seen I will declare ; 1 8.
Which wise men have told from their fa-
thers, and have not hid it : 1 9. Unto
whom alone the earth was given, and no
stranger passed among them. 20. The
wicked man travaileth with pain all his days,
and the number of years is hidden to the
oppressor. 21. A dreadful sound is in his
ears : in prosperity the destroyer shall come
upon him. 22. He believeth not that he
shall return out of darkness, and he is wait-
ed for of the sword. 23. He wandereth
abroad for bread, saying., Where is it? he
knoweth that the day of darkness is ready
nt his hand. 24. Trouble and anguish shall
make him afraid ; they shall prevail against
him, as a king ready to the battle. 25.
For he strotrheth out his hand against God,
and strengthcnoth himself against the Al-
mighty. 26. He runneth upon him, even

on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his
bucklers ; 27. Because he covereth his face
with his fatness, and maketh collops of fal
on his flanks. 28. And he dwelleth in
desolate cities, and in houses which no man
inhabiteth, v\hich are ready to become
heaps. 29. He shall not be rich, neither
shall liis substance continue, neither shall
he prolong the perfection thereof upon the
earth. 30. He shall not depart out of dark-
ness : the flame shall diy up his branches,
and by the breath of his mouth shall he go
away. 31. Let not him that is deceived
trust in vanity ; for vanity shall be his re-
compense. 32. It shall be accomplished
before his time, and his branch shall not be
green. 33. He shall shake off his unripe
grape as the vine, and shall cast off his
flower as the olive. 34. For the congrega-
tion of hypocrites shall he desolate, and fire
shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
35. They conceive mischief, and bring forth
vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

Eliphaz, having reproved Job for his answers,
here comes to maintain his own thesis, upon which
he built his censure of Job. His opinion is. That
those who are wicked are certainly miserable;
whence he would infer, that those who are misera-
ble are certainly wicked, and that therefore Job
was so. Observe,

I. His solemn preface to this discourse, in which
he bespeaks Job's attention, which he had little
reason to expect, he having given so little heed to,
and put so little value upon, what Job had said;
{y. 17.) "I will show thee that which is worth
hearing, and not reason, as thou dost, with unpro-
fitable talk. " Thus apt are men, when they condemn
the reasonings of others, to commend their own.
He promises to teach him, 1. From his own expe-
rience and observation; " That which I have my-
self seen in divers instances, I will declare." It ib
of good use to take notice of the providences of
God concerning the children of men, from which
many a good lesson may be learned. What gord
observations we have made, and ha\ e found benefit
by ourselves, we should be ready to communicate
for the benefit of others: and we may then speak
boldly, when we declare what we have seen. 2.
From the wisdom of the ancients, {y. 18.) ivhich
wise men have told from their fathers. Note, The
wisdom and learning of the modems are ^ ery much
derived from that of the ancients. Good children
will learn a good deal from their good parents: and
what we have learned from our ancestors we must
transmit to our posterity, and not hide from the
generations to come. See Ps. Ixxviii. 3- -6. If the
thread of the knowledge of many ages be cutoff by
the carelessness of one, and nothing be done to pre
serve it pure and entire, all that succeed, fare the
worse. The authorities Eliphaz vouched, were au-
thorities indeed, men of rank and figure, (t. 19.)
unto whom alone the earth was given, and there-
fore you mav svippose them fiivourites (>f Heaven,
and best capable of making observations concerning
the affairs of this earth. The dictates of wisdom
come with advantage from those who are in places
of dignity and power, as Solomon; yet there is a
wisdom vjhich none of the firinces of this world
knew, 1 Cor. ii. 7, 8.
II. The discourse itself. He here aims to show

JOB, XV.

79

1. Th?.t those who are wise and good do ordina-
rily prosper in this world. This he only hints at,
c 19. That those of whose mind he was, were
such as had the earth given to them, and to them
only; they enjoyed it entirely and peaceably, and no
stranger passed among them, either to share with
them, or to give disturbance to them. Job had said.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked,
ch. ix. 24. "No," says Eliphaz, " it is given into
the hands of the saints, and runs along with the faith
committed unto them. And they are not robbed
and plundered by strangers and enemies making in-
roads upon them, as thou art by the Sabean's and
Chaldeans." But because many of God's people
have remarkably prospered in this world, as Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does not therefore follow,
that those who are crossed and impoverished, as
Job, are not God's people.

2. That wicked people, and particularly oppres-
sors, and tyrannizing rulers, are subject to continual
terrors, live very uncomfortably, and perish very
miserably. On this head he enlarges, showing that
even they who impiously dare God's judgments, yet
cannot but dread them, and will feel them at last.
He speaks in the singular number, the wicked man,
meaning, as some think, Nimrod, or perhaps Che-
dorlaomer, or some such mighty hunter before the
Lord. I fear he meant Job himself, whom he ex-
pressly charges both with the tyranny, and with
the timorousness, here described, ch, xxii. 9, 10.
Here he thinks the application easy, and that Job
might, in this description, as in a glass, see his own
face. Now,

(1.) Let us see how he describes the sinner who
lives thus miserably. He does not begin with that,
but brings it in as a reason of his doom, v. 25. •28.
It is no ordinary sinner, but one of the first rate, an
nfi/iressor, {v. 20. ) a blasfihemer, and a fiersecutor,
one that neither fears God, nor regards man.

[1.] He bids defiance to God, and to his authori-
ty and power, v. 25. Tell him of the divine law,
and its obligations; he breaks those bonds asunder,
and will not have, no not him that made him, to re-
strain him or rule over him. Tell him of the divine
wrath, and its terrors; he bids the Almighty do his
worst, he will have his will, he will have his way,
in spite of him, and will not be controlled by law, or
conscience, or the notices of a judgment to come.
He stretches out his hand against God, in defiance
of him, and of the power of his wrath. God is in-
deed out of his reach, but he stretches out his hand
against him, to show, that, if it were in his power,
he would ungod him.

This applies to the audacious impiety of some
sinners, who are really haters of God, (Rom. i. 30.)
and whose carnal mind is not only an enemy to him,
but enmity itself, Rom. viii. 7. But, alas! the sin-
ner's malice is as impotent as it is impudent; what
can he do? He strengthens himself (he would be
valiant, so some read it) against the Almighty; he
thinks with his exorbitant despotic power to change
times and laws, (Dan. vii. 25. ) and, in spite of Pro-
vidence, to carry the day for rapine and wrong,
clear of the check of conscience. Note, It is the
prodigious madness of presumptuous sinners, that
they enter the lists with Omnipotence. Woe unto
him that strives with hi<i IVTaker. That is generally
taken for a further description of the sinner's daring
presumption; (x'. 26.) He m.-is ufion him, upon
God himself, in a direct opposition to him, to his
precepts and providences, even upon his neck, as a
desperate combatant, wher t*^ finds himself an un-
equal match for his adversary, flies in his face,
though, at the same time, he tails on his sword's
point, or the shai-p spike of his buckler. Sinners, in
general, run from God; but the presumptuous sin-
ner, who sins with a high hand, runs ufion him.

fights against him, and bids defiance to him ; and it is
easy to foretell what will be the issue.

[2.] He wraps himself up in security and sensu-
ality; {v. 27.) He covers hi^ face with hi^ fatness.
This signifies both the pampering of his fiesh with
daily delicious fare, and the hardening of his heart
thereby against the judgments of God. Note, The
gratifying of the appetites of the body, feeding and
feasting that to the full, often turns to the damage (f
the soul and its interests. Why is God forgotten
and slighted, but because the belly is made a god of,
and happiness placed in the delights of sense? They
that fill themselves with wine and strong drink,
abandon all that is serious, and flatter themselves
with hopes that to-morrow shall be as this day, Isa,
Ivi. 12. Woe to them that are thus at ease in Zion,
Amos vi. 1, 3, 4. Luke xii. 19. The fat that co-
vers his fare, makes him look bold and haughty,
and that which covers his flanks, makes him lie
easy and soft, and feel little; but this will prove
poor shelter against the darts of God's wrath.

[3.] He enriches himself with the spoils of all
about him, v. 28. He dwellsin cities which he him-
self has made desolate by expelling the inhabitants
out of them, that he might be placed alone in them,
Isa. V. 8. Proud and cruel men take a strange
pleasure in ruins, when they are of their own mak-
ing; in destroying cities, (Ps. ix. 6.) and triumph-
ing in the destruction, since they cannot make them
their own, but by making them ready to become
heaps, and frightening the inhabitants out of them.
Note, Those that aim to engross the world to them-
selves, and grasp at all, lose the comfort of all, and
make themselves miserable in the midst of all. How
does this tj^rant gain his point, and make himself
master of cities that have all the marks of antiquity
upon them? We are told, (v. 35.) he does it by
malice and falsehood, the two chief ingredients of
his wickedness, who was a liar and a murderer from
the beginning; they conceive mischief, and then they
effect it by preparing deceit, pretending to protect
those whom they design to subdue, and making
leagues of peace, the more effectually to carry on
the operations of war. From such wicked men
God deliver all good men.

(2.) Let us see now what is the miserable condi-
tion of this wicked man, both in spiritual and tem-
poral judgments.

[1.] His inward peace is continually disturbed.
He seems to those about him to be easy, who, there-
fore, envy him, and wish themselves in his condi-
tion, but He who knows what is in men, tells usthat
a wicked man has so little comfort and satisfaction
in his own bi'east, that he is rather to be pitied than
envied.

First, His own conscience accuses him, and, with
the pangs and throes of that, he travaileth in fiain
all his da^, x<. 20. He is continually uneasy at the
thought of the cruelties he has been guilty of, and
the blood in which he has imbued his hands; his
sins stare him in the face at every turn. Diri con-
scia facti mens habet attonitos — Conscious guilt as-
tonishes and confounds.

Secondly, He is vexed at the uncertainty of the
continuance of his wealth and power; the number
of years is hidden to the opfiressor. He knows,
whatever- he pretends, that it will not last always,
and has reason to fear that it will not last long, and
this he frets at.

Thirdly, He is under a certain fearfil expectation
of judgment and fiery indignation, (Heb. x. 27.)
which puts him into, and keeps him in, a continual
terror and consternation, so that he dwells with
Cain in the land of Nod, or commotion, (Gen. iv.
16.) and is made like Pashur, Magor-mis^abib — A
terror round about, Jer. xx. 3, 4. A dreadful sound
is in his ears, v. 21. He knows that both Heaven

80

JOB, XV.

and earth are i.^censed against him, that God is
angry with him, and that all the world hates him;
he has done nothing to make his peace with either,
and therefore he thinks that every r ne who meets
him ivill i/ay him, (ien. i\ . 14. Or, like u m;m ab-
sronding for debt, wlio thinks every man a bailiff.
Fear r;ime in, at first, with sin, (Gen. iii. 10.) and
still attends it. Even in prosperity, he is appre-
hensive that the destroyer will come upon him,
cither some destroying angel sent of God to avenge
his quarrel, or snnne of his injured subjects who will
be their own avengers. Those who are the terror
of the mighty in the land of the living, usually go
down slain to the pit, (Ezek. xxxii. 25.) the ex-
pectation of wliich makes them a terror to them-
selves. This is further set forth, v. 22. that he is,
in his own apprehension, waited for of the sword;
for he knows that he who killeth with the sword,
must be killed with the sword. Rev. xiii. 10. A
guilty conscience represents to the sinner a flammg
sword turning everu way, (Gen. iii. 24.) and him-
self inevitably running on it. Again, {v. 23.) He
knows that the day of darkness, (or the night of
darkness rather) is ready at his hand, that it is ap-

Eointed to him, and cannot be put by, that it is
astening on apace, and cannot be put oflT. This
day of darkness is something beyond death ; it is that
day of the Lord which, to all wicked people, will
be darkness and not light, and in which they will be
doomed to utter, endless, darkness. Note, Some
wicked people, though they seem secure, have al-
ready received the sentence of death, eternal death,
withm themselves, and plainly see hell gaping for
them. No marvel that it follows, {v. 24.) Trouble
and anguish (that inward tribulation and anguish of
soul spoken of, Rom. ii. 8, 9. which is the effect of
God's indignation and wrath fastening upon the
conscience) shall make him afraid of worse to come.
What is the hell before him, if this be the hell with-
mhim? And though he would fain shake off his
feais, drink them away, and jest them away, it will
not do; they shall firex>ail against him, and over-
power him, as a king ready to the battle, with forces
too strong to be resisted. He that would keep his
peace, let him keep a good conscience. ,

Fourthly, If at any time he be in trouble, he de-
spairs of getting out; (t'. 22.) He believeth not that
he shall return out of darkness, but he gives him-
self up for gone and lost in an endless night. Good
men expect light at evening time, light out of
darkness; but what reason have they to expect that
they shall return out of the darkness of trouble, who
would not return from the darkness of sin, but went
on in it? Ps. Ixxxii. 5. It is the misery of damned
sinners, that thev know they shall never return out
of that utter darkness, nor pass the gulf there fixed.

Fifthly, He perplexes himself with continual
care, especially if Prov'dence ever so Sttle frown
upon him, t. 2". Such a dread he has of poverty,
and svich a waste docs he discern upon his estate,
that. he is already, in his own imagination, wander-
ing abroad for bread, going ri-bei^ging for a meal's
meat, and saying, JVhere is it? The rich man, in
his abundance, cried out. What shall I do? Luke
xii. 17. Perhaps he pretends fear of wanting, as an
excuse of his covetous practices; jnstlv m;iy he be
brought to tliis extremity at last We read of those
who TOr7r full, but have hired out themselves for
bread, (1 Snm. ii. 5.) which this sinner will not do;
he cannot dig, he is too fat, {v. 27.) but to beg he
may well be ashamed. See Ps. cix. 10. David
never saw the righteous so far forsaken as to beg
their bread, for, verilv, they shall be fed by the
charitable, unasked, Ps. xxxvii. 3, 25. But the
wicked want it, and cannot expect it should be
readily sriven them. How should they find mercy,
who never showed mercy.''

[2.] Hi J outward prosperity will so<ni ccme fi
an end, and all his confidence, and all his comfoit,
will come to an end with it. How can he j)ro^per,
when God runs upon him? So some understand
that, V. 26. Whom God runs ufion, he will cer
tainly run down; for when he judges, he will o\ er-
come. See how the judgments of God cross this
worldly wicked man in all his cares, desires, and
projects, and so complete his misery.

First, He is in care to get, but he shallnot be rich,
V. 29. His own covetous mind keeps him from be-
ing truly rich. He is not rich, that has not enough;
and he has not enough, that does not think he has.
It is contentment only that is great gain. Provi
dence remarkably keeps some from being rich, de-
feating their enterprises, breaking their measures,
and keeping them always behind-hi'.nd. Many that
get much by fraud and injustice, yet do not grow
rich; it goes as it comes, it is got by one sin, and
spent upon another.

Secondly, He is in care to keep what he has got,
but in vain, his substance shall not continue; it will
dwindle and come to nothing, God blasts it, and what
came up in a night, fierish/s in a night. Health, got-
ten by vanity, will certainly be diminished. Some
have themselves lived to see the ruin of those estates
which have been raised by oppression; it goes, how-
ever, with a curse to those who succeed. De male
quBesitis vix gaudet tertius heeres — Ill-gotten pro-
perty will scarcely be enjoyed by the third genera-
tion. He purchases estates to him and his heirs for
ever; but to what purpose? He shall not prolong
the perfection thereof upon the earth; neither the
credit nor the comfort of his riches shall be pro-
longed; and, when those are gone, where is the per-
fection of them? How indeed can we expect the
perfection of any thing to be prolonged upon the
earth, where every thing is transitory, and we soon
see the end of all perfection?

Thirdly, He is in care to leave what he has got
and kept, to his children after him; but in this he
is crossed, the branches of his family shall perish,
in whom he hoped to have lived and flourished, and
to have had the reputation of making them all great
men. They shall not be green, v. 32. The Jlamt
shall dry them up, v. 30. He shall shake them off
as blossoms that never knit, or as the unripe grape,
V. 33. They shall die in the beginningof their days,
and never come to maturity Many a man's fami-
ly is ruined by his iniquity.

Fourthly, He is in care to enjoy it a great while
himself; but in that also he is crossed. 1. He may
perhaps be taken from it; {v. 30.) By the breath
of God's mouth — (that is, by his wrath, which, like
a stream of brimstone, kindles the fire that devours
him, Isa. xxx. 33. Or, by his word; he spe:\ks, and
it is done immediately) — shall he go away, and leave
his wealth to others. This night, thy soul shali
be required of thee; and so the wicked is driven
away in his wickedness, the worldling in his world-
liness. 2. It may perhaps be taken from him, and
fly away like an eagle toward heaven: It shall be
accomplished (or cut off) before his time, {v. 32.)
that is. He shall survive his prosperity, and see him-
self stripped of it.

Fifthly, He is in care, when he is in trouble, how
to get out of it; (not how to get good by it;) but in
this also he is crossed; {v. 30.) He shall not depart
out of darkness; when he begins to fall, like Hn-
man, down with him. It was said of him, {v. 22.)
He believeth not that he shall return out of dark-
ness; he frightened himself with the perpetuity d
his calamity, and God also shall choose his delusir-vs,
and bring his fears upon him, (Isn. lx\i. 4.) as lu-
did upon Israel, Numb. xiv. 28. God snys, Am.en,
to his distrust and despair.

Sixthly, He is in care to secure his partners, anrl

hopes to secure himself by his partnership with
them; but that is in vain too, x'. 34, 35. The con-
gregation of them, the whole confederacy, they,
and all their tabernacles, shall be desolate, and con-
sumed with fire. Hypocrisy and bribery are here
charged upon them; that is, deceitful dealing both
with God and man: God affronted, under colour of
religion, man wronged, under colour of justice. It
:s impossible that these should end well. Though
hand join in hand for the support of these pei-fidi-
ous practices, yet shall not the wicked go unfiunished.
(3. ) Tlie use and application of all this. Will the
pi-osperitv of presumptuous sinners end thus mise-
rably? Then, {y. 31.) Let not him that is deceived
trust in vanity. Let the mischiefs which befall
others be our warnings, and let not us rest on that
broken reed which always failed those who leaned
on it. [1.] Those who trust to their sinful ways of
getting wealth, trust in vanity, and vanity will be
(heir recomfiense, for they shill not get what they
expected. Their arts will deceive them, and per-
haps ruin them in this world. [2.] Those who
trust to their wealth when they have gotten it, es-
pecially to the wealth they have gotten dishonestly,
trust in vanity, for it will yield them no satisfaction.
The guilt that cleaves to it, will ruin the joy of it.
They sow the wind, and will reap the whirlwind,
and will own, at length, with the utmost confusion,
that a deceived heart turned them aside, and that
they cheated themselves with a lie in their right
hand,

CHAP. XVI.

Thi.s chapter begins Job's reply to that discourse of Eliphaz
which we had in the foregoin<r ehapterj it is but the se-
cond part of the same song of lamentation with which he
had before bemoaned himself, and set to the same me-
lancholy tune. I. He upbraids his friends with their un-
kind usage of him, v. 1 . . 6. II. He represents his own
case as very deplorable upon all accounts, v. 6 . . 16. III.
He still holds fast his integrity, concerning which he
appeals to God's righteous judgment, from the unrigh-
teous censures of his friends, v. 17 . . 22.

1. rj^HEN Job answered and said, 2. I
JL have heard many such things : mise-
rable comforters cnr ye all. 3. Shall vain
words have an end? or what emboldeneth
ihee that thou answerest? 4. I also could
speak as ye do : if your soul were in my
^uPs stead, I could heap up words against
you, and shake my head at you. 5. But
I would strengthen you with my mouth,
and the moving of my lips should assuage
i/our grief.

Both Job and his friends took the same way that
disputants commonly take, which is, to undervalue
one another's sense, and wisdom, and management.
The longer the saw. of contention is drawn, the
hotter it grows; and the beginning of this sort of
strife is as the letting forth of water, therefore leave
it: off before it be meddled with. Eliphaz had re-
presented Job's discourses as idle and unprofitable,
and nothing to the purpose; and Job here gives his
the same character. Those who are free in passing
such censures, must expect to have them retoited;
it is easy, it is endless: but Cut bono? — What good
does it do? It will stir up men's passions, but will
never convince their judgments, nor set truth in a
clear light.

Job here reproves Eliphaz,

1 For needless repetitions; {v. 2.) "/ have
heard many such things. You tell me nothing but
what I knew before; nothing but what you your-
selves ha\ e before said; you offer nothing new, it is

Vol. III. — L

JOB, XVI. 81

the same thing over and over again;" which Job
thinks as great a trial of his patience as almost any
of his troubles. The inculcating of the same thmgs
thus by an adversary, is indeed provoking and
nauseous, but by a teacher it is often necessary,
and must not be grievous to the learner, to whom
firece/it must be u/ion precept, and line upon line.
Many things we have heard, which it is good for
us to hear again, that we may understand and re-
member them belter, and be more affected with
them, and influenced by them.

2. For unskilful applications. They came with
a design to comfoi-t him, but they went about it very
awkwardly, and, when they touched Job's case,
quite mistook it; " Miserable comforters are ye all,
who, instead of offering any thing to alleviate the
affliction, add affliction to it, and make it yet
more grievous." The patient's case is sad indeed,
when his medicines are poisons, and his physicians
his worst disease. What Job says here of his
friends, is ti-ue of all creatures, in comparison with
God, and, one time or other, we shall be made to
see it and own it, that miserable comforters are
they all. When we are under convictions of sin,
terrors of conscience, and the arrests of death, it is
only the blessed Spirit that can comfort effectually;
all others, without him, do it miserably, and sing
songs to a heavy heart, to no purpose.

3. For endless impertinence. Job wishes that
vain words might have an end, x'. 3. If vain, it
were well that they were never begun, and the
sooner they are ended the better. Those who are
so wise as to speak to the purpose, will be so wise
as to know when they have said enough of a thing,
and when it is time to break off.

4. For causeless obstinacy. JVhat emboldeneth
thee, that thou answerest?' It is very rash and
unjust confidence, with Eliphaz, to charge men
with those crimes which we cannot prove upon
them, to pass a judgment on men's spiritual state,
upon the view of their outward condition, and to
re-advance those objections which have been again
and again answered.

5. For the violation of the sacred laws of friend-
ship; doing by his brother as he would not have
been done by, and as his brother would not have
done by him. This is a cutting reproof, and very-
affecting, V. 4, 5.

(1.) He desires his friends, in imagination, for a
little while, to change conditions with him, to put
their souls in his soul's stead; to suppose themselves
in misery like him. and him at ease like them.
This was no absurd or foreign supposition, but what
might quickly become true in fact; so strange, so
sudden, frequently, are the vicissitudes of human
affairs, and such the turns of the wheel, that the
spokes soon change places. Whatever our bre-
thren's sorrows are, we ought by sympathv to make
them our own, because we know not how "soon they
may be so.

(2.) He represents the unkindness of their con-
duct toward him, by showing what he could do to
them, if they were in his condition. I could speak
as ye do. It is an easy thhig to trample upon those
that are down, and to find faidt with what those say
that are in extremity of pain and affliction. "1
could heap up words against you, as you do against
me; and how would you like it? How would vou
bear it.'" ^

(3.) He shows them what they should do, by
telling them what, in that case, he would do; {v. 5.)
" I would strengthen you, and say all I could to
assuage your grief, but nothing to aggravate it."
It is natural to sufferers to think what' they would
do, if the tables were turned; but perhaps our
hearts may deceive us; we know not what we
should do. We find it easier to discern the reason

q^

JOB, XVI.

ableness and importance of a command, when we
have occasion to claim the benefit of it, than when
we have occasion to do the duty of it. See what is the
duty we owe to our brethren in affliction. [1.] We
should say and do all we can to strengthen them,
suggesting to them such considerations as are pro-
per to encourage their confidence in God, and to
support their sinking spirits. Faith and patience
are the strength of the afflicted; what helps these
graces, confirms the feeble knees. [2.] To as-
suage their grief, the causes of their grief, if pos-
siblej_pr, however, their resentment of those causes.
Good words cost nothing; but they may be of good
service to those that are in sorrow, not only as it is
some comfort to them to see their friends concerned
for them, but as they may be so reminded of that
which, through the prevalency of grief, was for-
gotten. Though hard words (we say) break no
bones, yet kind words may help to make broken
bones rejoice; and those have the tojigue of the
'.earned, that know how to speak a word in season
to the weary.

6. Though I speak, my grief is not as-
suaged ; and though I forbear, what am I
3ased? 7. But now he hath made me
weary : thou hast made desolate all my
company. 8. And thou hast filled me with
wrinkles, which is a witness against me :
and my leanness rising up in me beareth
witness to my face. 9. He teareth me in
his wrath who hateth me : he gnasheth upon
me with his teeth ; mine enemy sharpeneth
hi? eyes upon me. 10. They have gaped
upon me with their mouth ; they have smitten
me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have
gathered themselves together against me.
11. God hath delivered me to the ungodly,
and turned me over into the hands of the
wicked. 12. I was at ease, but he hath
broken me asunder : he hath also taken me
by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and
set me up for his mark. 13, His archers
compass me round about ; he cleaveth my
reins asunder, and doth not spare ; he pour-
eth out my gall upon the ground. 14. He
breaketli me with breach upon breach ; he
runneth upon me like a giant. 1 5. I have
sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled
my horn in the dust. 16. My face is foul
with weeping, and on mine eyelids is the
shadow of death ;

Job's complaint is here as bitter as any where in
all his discourses, and he is at a stand whether to
smother it or to give it vent. Sometimes the one,
and sometimes the other, is a relief to the afflicted,
according as the temper or the circumstances are;
but Jol) found help by neither, v. 6. (1.) Some-
times giving vent to grief gives ease; but, " Though
I sficafc," (says Job,) " nuj grief is not assuaged,
my spirit is never the lighter for the pouring out of
my complaint; nay, what I speak is so misconstrued
as to be turned to the aggravation of my grief."
(2.) At other times, kec])ing silence makes the
trouble the easier and the sooner forgotten; but
(says Job) though T forbear, I am never the nearer;
irhat am leased? If he complained, he was cen-
sured as passionate; if not, as sullen. If he main-

tained his integrity, that was his crime; if he made
no answer to their accusations, his silence v^as taken
for a confession of his guilt.

Here is a doleful representation of Job's grie-
vances. O what reason ha\ e we to bless God, that
we are not making such complaints! He complains,

1. That his family was scattered; {v. 7.) "He
hath made me weary, weary of speaking, weary of
forbearing, weary of my friends, weary of life it-
self; my journey through the world proves so very
uncomfortable, that I am quite tired with it:" this
made it as tiresome as any thing, that all his com-
pany was made desolate; his children and servants
being killed, and the poor remains of his great
household dispersed. The company of good peo
pie, that used to meet at his house for religious
worship, was now scattered, and he spent his sab-
baths in silence and solitude. He had company in-
deed, but such as he would rather have been v» ith-
out, for they seemed to triumph in his desolation.
If lovers and friends are put far from us, we must
see and own God's hand in it, making our company
desolate.

2. That his body was worn away with diseases
and pains, so that he was become a perfect skele-
ton, nothing but skin and bones, v. 8. His face was
furrowed, not with age, but sickness; l^hou hast
filled me with wrinkles. His flesh was wasted with
the running of his sore boils, so that his leanness
rose up in him, that is, his bones, that were not
seen, stuck out, ch. xxxiii. 21. These are called
witnesses against him, witnesses of God's displea-
sure against him, and such witnesses as his friends
produced against him to prove him a wicked man.
Or, "They are witnesses ^br me, that my com-
plaint is not causeless," or, " witnesses to me, that
I am a dying man, and must be gone shortly."

3. That his enemy was a terror to him, threat-
ened him, frightened him, looked stern upon him,
and gave all the indications of rage against him ; (v.
9. ) He tears me in his wrath. But who is this enemy?
Either, (1.) Eli/ihaz; who showed himself very
much exasperated against him, and perhaps, had
expressed himself with such marks of indignation
as are here mentioned: at least, what he said tore
Job's good name, and thundered nothing but terror
to him; his eyes were sharpened to spy out matter
of reproach against Job, and very barbarously both
he and the rest of them used him. Or, (2.) ISatan;
he was his enemy, that hated him, and perhaps, by
the divine permission, terrified him with appari-'
tions, as (some think) he terrified our Saviour,
which put him into his agonies in the garden; and
thus he aimed to make him curse God. It is not
improbable that this is the enemy he means. Or,
(3.) God himself: if we understand it of him, tht
expressions are indeed as rash as any he used.
God hates none of his creatures; but Job's melan-
choly did thus represent to him the terrors of the
Almighty: and nothing can be more grievous to a
good man, than to apprehend God to. be his enemy.
If the wrath of a king be as messengers of death,
what is the wrath of the King of kings !

4. That all about him were abusive to him; {v.
10.) They came upon him with open mouth to de-
vour him, as if they would swallow him alive, so
terrible were their threats, and so scornful was
their conduct to him. They offered him all the
indignities they could invent, and even smote him
on the cheek; and herein many were confederate,
they gathered themselves together against him, ever
the' abjects, Ps. xxxv. 15. Herein Job was a type
of Christ, as many of the ancients make him: these
very expressions are used in the predictions of his
sufferings; (Ps. xxii. 13.) They gafied upon me
with their mouths; and (Mic. v. 1.) Thry shall

I smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek,

JOB, XVI.

which was literally fulfilled, Matth. xxvi. 67. How
were the\ increased that troubled him!

5. That God, instead of delivering him out of
their hands, as he hoped, delivered him into their
hands; {v. 11.) He hath turned me over into the
hands of the %uicked. They could have had no
power against him, if it had not been given them
from above; he therefore looks beyond them to
God, who gave them their commission, as David
did when Shimei cursed him; but he thinks it
strange, and almost thinks it hard, that those
should have power against him, who were God's
enemies as much as his. God sometimes makes use
of wicked men as his sword to one another, (Ps.
xvii. 13. ) and his rod to his own children, Isa. x. 5.
Herein also Job was a type of Christ, who was de-
livered into wicked hands, to be crucified and slain,
by the determinate counsel and fore-knoiviedge of
God, Acts ii. 23.

6. That God not only delivered him into the
hands of the wicked, but took him into his own
hands too, into which it is a fearful thing to fall; {v.
12.) " I was at ease, in the comfortable enjoyment
of the gifts of God's bounty, not fretting and un-
easy, as some are in the midst of their prosperity,
who thereby pro\oke God to strip, them; yet he
has broken me asunder, put me upon the rack of
pain, and torn me limb from limb. God, in afflict-
mg him, had seemed, (1.) As if he were furious:
though fury is not in God, he thought it was, when
he took him by the neck, (as a strong man in a pas-
sion would take a child,) and shook him to pieces,
triumphing in the irresistible power he had to do
what he would with him. (2.) As if he were par-
tial; "He has distinguished me from the rest of
mankind by this hard usage of me; he has set me
up for his mark, the butt at which he is pleased to
let fly all his arrows: at me they are directed, and
they come not by chance; against me they are
levelled, as if I were the greatest sinner of all the
men of the east, or were singled out to be made an
example." When God set him up for a mark, his
archers presently compassed him round. God has
archers at command, who will be sure to hit the
mark that he sets up. Whoever are our enemies,
we must look upon them as God's archers, and see
him directing the arrow. It is the Lord; let him do
what seemeth him good. (3.) As if he were cruel,
and his wrath as relentless as his power was resist-
less. As if lie contrived to touch him in the ten-
derest part, cleaving his reins asunder with acute
pains, perhaps they were nephritic pains, those of
the stone, which lie in the region of the kidneys. As
if he had no mercy in reserve for him, he does not
spare, nor abate any thing of the extremity. And,
as if he aimed at nothing but his death, and his
death in the midst of the most grievous tortures, he
flours out my gall ufion the ground. As when men
have taken a wild beast, and killed it, they open it,
and pour out the gall Avith a loathing of it. He
thought his blood was poured out, as if it were not
only not precious, but nauseous. (4.) As if he were
unreasonable and insatiable in his executions; (v.
14.) "He breaketh me with breach upon Oreach,
follows me with one wound after another." So his
troubles came at first; while one messenger of evil
tidings was speaking, another came; and so it was
still, new boils were rising every day, so that he
had no prospect of the end of his troubles. Thus
he thought that God ran upon him like a giant,
whom he could not possibly stand before or con-
front; as the giants of old ran down all their poor
neighbours, and were tno hard for them. Note,
Even good men, when they are in great and extra-
ordinary troubles, have much ado not to entertain
hard thoughts of God.

7. That he had divested himself of all his honour.

and all his comfort, in compliance with the affiicl-
ing providences that surrounded him. Some <,aii
lessen their own troubles by concealing them, hoki-
ing their heads as high, and putting as good a face
upon them, as ever; but Job could not do so; he
received the impressions of them, and, as one truly
penitent, and truly patient, he humbled himseli
under the mighty hand of God, v. 15, 16. (1.) He
now laid aside all his ornaments and soft clothing,
consulted not either his ease or finery in his dress,
but sewed sackcloth upon his skin; that clothing lie
thought good enough for such a defiled distempered
body as he had. Silks upon sores, such sores, he
thought, would be unsuitable, sackcloth would be
more becoming. Those are fond indeed of gay
clothing, that will not be weaned from it by sick-
j ness and old age, and, as Job was, {y. 8. ) bv ivrin-
j kles and leanness. He not only fiut on sackcloth,
but seived it on, as one that resolved to continue his
humiliation as long as the affliction continued. (2.)
He insisted not upon any points of honour, but
humbled himself under humbling providences; he
defiled his hor?i in the dust, and refused the respect
that used to be paid to his dignity, power, and emi-
nency. Note, When God brings down our condi-
tion, that should bring down our spirits. Better lay
the horn in the dust, than lift it up in contradiction
to the designs of Providence, and have it broken at
last. Eliphaz had represented Job as high and
haughty, and unhumbled under his affliction; "No,"
says Job, " I know better things; the dust is now
the fittest place for me." (3.) He banished mirth
as utterly unseasonable, and set himself to sow in
tears; {v. 16.) *' My face is foul with weeping no
constantly for my sins, f(.r God's displeasure against
me, and for my friends' unkindness; this has brought
a shadow of death upon my eye-lids." He had not
only wept away all his beauty, but almost wept his
eyes out. In this also, he was a type of Christ, who
was a man of sorrows, and much in tears, and pro-
nounced those blessed that mourn, for they shall be
comforted.

1 7. Not for ani/ injustice in my hands :
also my prayer is pure. 18. O earth, cover
not thou my blood, and let my cry have no
place. 19. Also now, behold, my witness
is in lieaven, and my record is on high. 20.
My friends scorn me ; but mine eye poureth
out fem^s unto God. 21. Oh that one might
plead for a man with God, as a man plead-
eth for his neighbour! 22. When a few
years are come, then I shall go the way
whence I shall not return.

Job's condition was very deplorable; but had he
nothing to support him, nothing to comfort him?
Yes, and he here tells us what it was.

I. He had the testimony of his conscience for him,
that he had walked uprightly, and had never al-
lowed himself in any gross sin. None was ever
more ready than he to acknowledge his sins of in-
firmity; but, upon search, he could not charge
himself with any enormous crime, for which he
should be made more miserable than other men, t.
17. He had kept a conscience void of ofl'ence,
1. Toward men. " J\''ot for any injustice in my
hands, any wealth that 1 have unjustly got or
kept." Eliphaz had represented him as a tyrant
and an oppressor; "No," says he, "I never did
any wrong to any man, but always despised the
gain of oppression." 2. Toward God. Jllso my
prayer is pure; but prayer cannot be pure, as
long as there is injustice in our hands, Isa. i. 15.
Eliphaz had charged him with hypocrisy in reli

84

JOB, XVII.

i,ion, but he specifies prayer, the great act of reli-
i^ion, and professes that in that he was pure, though
not from all infirmity, yet from reigning and allowed j
guile: it was not like the prayers of the Pharisees,
who looked no further than to be seen of men, and
to serve a turn. I

This assertion of his own integrity he backs with I
a solemn imprecation of shame and confusion to '
himself, if it were not true, v. 18. (1.) If there
were any injustice in his hands, he wishes it might
not be concealed, O earth, covernot thou my blood,
that is, "the innocent blood of others, which 1 am
suspected to have shed." Murder will out; and
"Let it," says Job, " if I have ever been guilty of
it," Gen. iv. 10, 11. The day is coming when the
earth shall diacloae her blood; (Isa. xxvi. 21.) and
a good man is fur from dreading that day. (2. ) If
there were any impurity in his prayers, he wishes
they might not be accepted, Let my cry have no 1
filace. He was willing to be judged by that rule.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, (iod will not hear i
me, Ps. lx\i. 18. There is another probable sense I
of these words, that he does hereby, as it were, lay j
his death upon his friends, who broke his heart
with their harsh censures, and charges the guilt of
his blood upon them, begging of God to avenge it,
and that the cry of his blood might have no place
in which to lie hid, but might come up to heaven,
and be heard by him that makes inquisition for
blood.

II. He could appeal to God's omniscience con-
cerning his integrity, v. 19. The witness in our
own bosoms for us will stand us in little stead, if
we have not a witness in heaven for us too, for God
is greater than our hearts, and we are not to be our
own judges; this, therefore, is Job's triumph. My
Witness is in heaven. Note, It is an unspeakable
comfort to a good man, when he lies under the cen-
sure of his brethren, that there is a God in heaven,
who knows his integrity, and will clear it up sooner
or later. See John v. 31, 37. This one Witness
is instead of a thousand.

III. He had a God to go to, before whom he
might unbosom himself, v. 20, 21. See here, 1.
How the case stood between him and his friends;
he knew not how to be free with them, nor could
he expect either a fair hearing with them, or fair
dealing from them ; " My friends (so they call them-
selves) scorn me; they set themselves not only to
resist me, but to expose me; they are of counsel
against me, and use all their art and eloquence,"
(so the word signifies,) "to run me down." The
scorns of friends are more cutting than those of
enemies; but we must expect them, and provide
accordingly. 2. How it stood between him and
God. He doubted not but that, (1.) God did now
take cognizance of his sorrows, il/me eye pours
out tears to God. He had said, {v. 16.) that he
wept much; here he tells us in what channel his
tears ran, and which way they were directed: his
sorrow was not that of the world, but he sorrowed
after a godly sort, wept before the Lord, and offer-
ed to him the sacrifice of a broken heart. Note,
Even tears, when sanctified to God, give ease to
troubled spirits; and, if men slight our grief, this
may comfort us, that God regards them. (2.) That
he would in due time clear up his innocency ; {v.
21.) 0 that one might plead for a man with God!
If he could but now have the same freedom at
God's bar, that men commonly have at the bar of
the civil magistrate, he doubted not but to carry his
cause, for the Judge himself was a witness to liis
integrity. The language of this wish is, that (Isa.
1. 7, 8.) I knoiv that I shall not be ashamed, for he
is near that justifies me. Some give a gospel-sense
cf th;s verse, and the original will very well bear
It: and he will plead (that is, there is one that will

plead)/o7- man with God, ex'en the Son of man, for
fiiis friend, or neighbour. Those who pour out tear«i
before God, though they cannot plead for them-
selves, by reason of their distance and defects, have
a Friend to plead for them, even the Son of man,
and on this we must bottom all our hopes of accept-
ance with (iod.

IV. He had a prospect of death, which would
put a period to all his troubles: such confidence had
he toward God, that he could take pleasure in
thinking cf the approach of death, when he should
be determined to his e\ erlasting state, as one that
doubted not but it would be well with him then:
Whe7i a few years are come, (the years ofnumbir
whiih are determined and appointed to nie,) 'hen J
shall go the way whence I shall not return. Note,
1. To die is to go the way whence we shall not re-
turti; it is to go a journey, a long journey, a jiurney
for good and all; to remove from this to tinother
country, from the world of sense to the woild of
spirits; it is a journey to our long home; there will
be no coming back to our state in this world, nor
any change of our state in the other world. 2. We
must all of us, very certainly, and very shortly, go
this journey; and it is comfortable to those who
keep a good conscience, to think of it, for it is the
crown of their integrity.

CHAP. XVII.

In this chapter, I. Job reflects upon the harsh censures
which his friends had passed upon him, and, looking
upon himself as a dying man, (v. 1.) he appeals to God,
and begs of him speedily to appear for him, and right
him, because they had wronged him, and he knew not
how to right himself, y. 2.. 7. But he hopes, that,
though it should be a surprise, it will be no stumbling-
block, to good people, to see nim thus abused, v. 8, 9.
II. He reflects upon the vain hopes they had fed him
with, that he should yet see good days; shelving that
his days were just at an end, and with his body all his
hopes would be buried in the dust, v. 10.. 16. His
friends becoming strange to him, which greatly grieved
him, he makes death and the grave familiar to him,
which yielded him some comfort.

l."M/rY breath is coirupt, my days are
ItJ- extinct, the graves are ready for
me. 2. Are there not mockers with me?
and doth not mine eye continue in their pro-
vocation ? 3, Lay down now, put me in
a surety with thee ; who is he that will
strike hands with me ? 4. For thou hast
hid their heart from understanding : there-
fore shalt thou not exalt them. 5. He that
speaketh flattery to his friends, even the
eyes of his children shall fail. 6. He hath
made me also a by-word of the people, and
aforetime I was as a tabret. 7. Mine eye
also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my
members are as a shadow. 8. Upright
men shall be astonished at this, and the in-
nocent shall stir up himself against ihe hy-
pocrite. 9. The righteous also shall hold
on his way, and he that hath clean hands
shall be stronger and stronger.

Job's discourse 1 ere is somewhat broken and in-
terrupted, and he passes suddenly from one thing
to another, as is usual with men in trouble: but we
may reduce what is said here to three heads.

I. The deplorable condition which poor Job was
now in, which he describes, to aggravate the great

JOB, XVII.

85

unkindness of his friends to him, and to justify his
own con)plaints. Let us see what his case was.

1. He was a dying man, v. 1. He had said, (cA.
xvi. 22.) " When a feiv years are come, I shall go
that long journey. " But here he corrects himself,
"Why do I talk of years to come.'' Alas! I am just
setting out on that journey, am now ready to be of-
fei-ed, and the time of my departure is at hand; my
breath is already corrupt, or broken off, my spirits
aj"e spent, I am a gone man." It is good for e\ery
one <^f us thus to look upon ourselves as dying, and
especially to think of it when we are sick. We are
dying, that is, (1.) Our life is going, for the breath
of life is going. It is continually going forth, it is in
our nostrils, (Isa. ii. 22.) the door at which it en-
tered; (Gen. ii. 7.) there it is upon the threshold,
ready to depart. Perhaps, Job's distemper obstructed
his breathing, and short breath will, after a while,
be no breath. Let the jlnointed of (he Lord be the
breach of our nostrils, and let us get spiritual life
breathed into us, and that breath will never be cor-
rupted. (2.) Our time is ending; My days are
extinct, are put out, as a candle, which, from the
first lighting, is continually wasting and burning
down, and will by degrees burn out of itself, but
may by a thousand accidents be extinguished. Such
is life. It concerns us, therefore, Carefully to re-
deem the days of time, and to spend them in get-
ting ready for the days of eternity, which will never
be extinct. (3. ) We are expected in our long home;
The graves are ready for me. But would not one
gra\ e serve? Yes, but he speaks of the sepulchres of
his fathers, to which he must be gathered: "The
graves where they are laid, are ready for me also,"
graves in consort, the congregation of the dead.
Wherever we go, there is but a step between us
and the gra\ e. Whatever is unready, that is ready;
it is a bed soon made. If the graves be ready for
us, it concerns us to be ready for the graves. The
graves for me, so it runs; denoting not only his ex-
pectation of death, but his desire of it; "I have
done with the world, and have nothing now to wish
for but a grave."

2. He was a desfiised man; {v. 6.) " He," (that
is, Eliphaz, so some, or rather God, whom he all
along acknowledges to be the Author of his calami-
ties) •' has made ?ne a by-word of the fieofile, the
talk of the country, a laughing-stock to many, a
gazing-stock to all; and aforetime, or, to men's
faces, publicly, I was as a tabret, that whoever
chose might play upon;" tlicy made ballads of him;
his name became a proverb; it is so still, .//s poor
as Job. He has now made me a by-word, a reproach
of men, whereas, aforetime, in my prosperity, I
was as a tabret, Deliciee humani generis — The dar-
ling of the human race, whom they were all pleased
with. It is common for those who were honoured
in their wealth, to be despised in their poverty.

3. He was a man of sorrows, v. 7. He wept so
much, that he had almost lost his sight; Mine eye
is dim by reason of sorrow, ch. xvi. 16. The sor-
row of the world thus works darkness and death.
He vexed so much, that he had fretted all the flesh
away, and was become a perfect skeleton; nothing
but skin and bones; *' jill my members are as a sha-
dow. I am grown so poor and thin, that I am not
to be called a man, but the shadow of a man."

II. The ill use which his friends made of his mi-
series; they trampled upon him, and insulted over
him, and condemned him as a hypocrite, because
he was thus grievously afflicted. Hard usage! Now
observe,

1. How Job describes it, and what construction
he puts upon their discourses with him. He looks
upon himself as basely abused by them. (1.) They
abused him with their foul censures, condemning
hjm as ?. bad man, justly reduced thus, and exposed [

to contempt, v. 2. " They are mockers, who de-
ride my calamities, and insult over me, because I
am thus brought low. They are so with me, abusing
me to my face, pretending friendship in their visit,
but intending mischief. I cannot get clear of them;
j they are continually tearing me, and thej^ will not
" be wrought upon, either by reason or pity, to let
fall the prosecution." (2.) They abused him too
with their fail- promises, for in them they did but
banter him. He reckons them {v. 5. ) among those
that speak flattery to their friends. They all ca.ne
to mourn with him; Eliphaz began with a commen-
dation of him, ch. iv. 3. They had all promised
him that he would be happy, if he would take their
advice. Now all this he looked upon as flattery,
and as designed to vex him so much the more. All
this he calls their firovocation, v. 2. They did
what they could to provoke him, and then con-
demned him for his resentment of it; but he thinks
himself excusable when his eye continued thus in
their firovocation; it never ceased, and he could
never look off it. Note, The unkindness of those
that trample upon their friends in affliction, that
banter and abuse them then, is enough to try, if not
to tire, the patience even of Job himself.

2. How he condemns it. (1.) It was a sign that
God had hid their heart from understanding, {v.
4.) and that in this matter they were infatuated,
and their wonted wisdom was departed from them.
Wisdom is a gift of God, which he grants to some,
and withholds from others, grants at some times,
and withholds at other times. Those that are void
of compassion, are so far void of understanding.
Where there is not the tenderness of a man, < ne
may question whether there be the understanding
of a man. (2. ) It would be a lasting reproach and
diminution to them; Therefore shalt thou not exalt
them. Those are certainly kept back from lionr.ur,
whose hearts are hid from understanding. \Mien
God infatuates men, he will abase them. Surely
they who discover st little acquaintance with the
methods of Providence, shall not have the honour
of deciding this controversy! That is reserved for
a man of better sense, and better temper, such an
one as Elihu afterward appeared to be. (3.) It
would entail a curse upon their families. He that
thus violates the sacred laws of friendship, forfeits
the benefit of it, not only for himself, but for his
posterity. " Even the eyes of his children shall fail,
and when they look for succour and comfort from
their own and' their father's friends, they shall look
in vain, as I have done, and be as much disappoint-
ed Hs I am in you." Note, Those that wrong their
neighbours, may, in the end, wrong their own chil-
dren more than they are aware of.

3. How he appeals from them to God; {y. 3.)
Lay down now, fiut me in a surety with thee, that
is, "Let me be assured that God will take the hear-
ing and determining of the cause into his own hands,
and I desire no more. Let some one engage for
God to bring on this .matter. " Thus they whose
heaits condemn them not, have confidence toward
God, and can, with humble and believing boldness,
beg of him to search and try them. Some make
Job here to glance at the mediation of Christ, foi
he speaks of a Surety with God, without whom he
durst not appear before God, nor try his cause at
his bar; for though his friends' accusations of him
were utterly false, yet he could not justify himself
before God but in a Mediator. Our English anno
tations give this reading of the verse, " J/ifioint,
I firay thee, my Surety with thee, namely, Christ,
who is with thee in heaven, and has undertaken to
be rny Surety: let him plead my cause, and stand
up for me; and vjho is he then that will strike ufion
mine hand!-'" that is, "Who dares then contend
with me.'' Who shall lay any thi.ng to my charge.

djS

JOB, XVII.

if Christ be an advocate for me?" Rom. viii. 32, 33.
Christ is the Surety of the better testament, (Heb.
vii. 22.) a Surety of God's appointing; and if he
undertake for us, we need not fear what can be
done against us.

III. The good use which the righteous should
make of Job's afflictions from God, from his ene-
mies, and from his friends, v. 8, 9. Observe here, ^

1, How the saints are described. (1.) They are
upright men, honest, and sincere, and that act from
a steady principle, with a single eye. This was
Job's own character; {c/i. i. 1.) and, probably, he
speaks of such upright men especially as had been
his intimates and associates. (2.) They are the
^ innocent; not perfectly so, but it is what they aim
at, and press toward. Sincerity is evangelical inno-
cency, and they that ai-e upright are said to be i?i-
nocent from the great trayisgression, Ps. xix. 13.
(3.) They are the righteous, who walk in the way
of righteousness. (4.) They have clean hands,
kept clean from the gross pollutions of sin, and,
when spotied with infirmities, washed with iiino-
cencii, Ps. xxvi. 6.

2.' How they should be affected with the account
of Job's troubles. Great inquiry, no doubt, would
be made concerning him, and every one would
speak of him and his case; and what use will good
people make of it?

(1.) It will amaze them; Ufiright men shall be
astonished at this; they will wonder to hear that so
good a man as Job should be so grievously afflicted
in body, name, and estate; that God should lay his
hand so heavy upon-him, and that his friends, who
ought to have comforted him, should add to his
grief; that such a remarkable saint should be such
a remarkable sufferer, and so useful a man laid
aside in the midst of his usefulness; what shall we
say to these things? Upright men, though satisfied,
in general, that God is wise and holy in all he does,
yet cannot but be astonishefl at such dispensations
of Providence; paradoxes which will not be un-
folded till the mystery of God shall be finished.

(2.) It will animate them. Instead of being de-
terred from, and discouraged in, the service of
God, by the hard usage which this faithful ser-
vant of God met with, they shall be so much the
more imboldened to proceed and persevere in it.
That which was St. Paul's care, (1 Thess. iii. 3.)
was Job's, that no good man should be moved
either from his holiness, or his comfort, by these
afflictions, that none should, for the sake hereof,
think the worse of the ways or work of God. And
that which was St. Paul's comfort, was his too, that
the brethren of the Lord would wax confident by
his bonds, Philip i. 14. They would hereby be
animated,

[1.] To oppose sin, and to confront the corrupt
and pernicious inferences which evil men would
draw from Job's sufferings, as, That God has for-
saken the earth, That it is in vain to serve him ; and
the like; The innocent shall stir ufi himself against
the hy/iocrife, will not bear to hear this, (Rev. ii. 2.)
but will withstand him to his face; will stir up
himself to search into the meaning of such provi-
dences, and study these hard chapters, that he may
read them readily; will stir up himself to maintain
religion's just, biit injured, cause against all its op-
posers. Note, The boldness of the attacks which
profane people make upon religion, should sharpen
*he courage and resolution of its friends and advo-
cates. It is time to stir, when proclamation is made
■.n the gate of the camp, Who is on the Lord's side?
When vice is daring, it is no time for virtue,
through fear, to hide itself.

[2.] To persevere in religion. The righteous,
instead of drawing back, or so much as starting
back, at this frightful spectacle, or standing still to

deliberate whether he should proceed or no, (allude
to 2 Sam. ii. 23. ) shall, with so much the more con-
stancy and resolution, hold on his way, and press
forward. Though, in me, he foresees that bonds
and afflictions abide him, yet none of those things
shall move him. Acts xx. 24. Those who keep their
eye upon heaven as their end, will keep their feet
in the paths of religion as their way, whatever diffi-
culties and discouragements they meet with in it.

[3.] In order thereunto, to grow in grace. He
will not only hold on his way notwithstanding, but
will grow stronger and stronger, and, by the sight
of other good men's trials, and the experience of
his own, he will be made more vigorous and lively
in his duty, more warm and affectionate, more reso-
lute and undaunted: the worse others are, the bet-
ter he will be; that which dismays others, im-
boldens him. The blustering wind makes the tra-
veller gather his cloak the closer about him, and
gird it the faster. They that are truly wise and
good, will be continually growing wiser and better.
Proficiency in religion is a good sign of sincerity
hi it.

10. But as for you all, do you' return,
and come now : for 1 cannot find 07ie wise
man among you. 11. My days are past, my
pui-poses are broken off, eveji the thoughts
of my heart. 12. They change the night
into day : the light is short because of dark-
ness. 1 3. If I wait, the grave is my house :
I have made my bed in the darkness. 14.
1 have said to corruption. Thou art my fa-
ther: to the worm. Thou art my mother
and my sister. 15. And where is now my
hope ? as for my hope, who shall see it ?
^6. They shall go down to the bars of the
pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

Job's friends had pretended to comfort him with
the hopes of his return to a prosperous estate again;
now he here shows,

I. That it was their folly to talk so; {v. 10.)
" Return, and come now, be convinced that you
are in an error, and let me persuade you to be of
my mind; for / cannot find any wise man among
you, that knows how to explain the difficulties oT
God's pro\ idence, or how to apply the consolations
of his promises." Those do not go wisely about
the work of comforting the afflicted, who fetch
their comforts from the possibility of their reco\ ery
and enlargement in this world; though that is not to
be despaired of, it is, at the best, uncertain, and if it
should fail, as perhaps it may, the comfort built
upon it will fail too. It is therefore our wisdom to
comfort ourselves, and others, in distress, with that
which will not fail, the promise of God, his love
and grace, and a well-grounded hope of eternal
life.

11. That it would be much more his folly to
heed them; for,

1. All his measures were already broken, and he
was full of confusion, T. 11, 12. He owns he had,
in his prosperity, often pleased himself both with
projects of what he should do, and prospects of
what he should enjoy; but now that he looked
upon his days as past", and drawing towards a pe-
riod, all those purposes were broken off", and those
expectations daslied. He had had thoughts about
enlarging his border, incrensing his stock, and set-
tling his children, and many pious thoughts, it i?
likelv, of promoting religion in his cruntry, re-
dressing grievances, reforming the profane, reliev-

JOB, XVllL

ing the poor, and raising funds, perhaps, for chari-
table uses; but all these thoughts of his heart were
now at an end, and he would never have the satis-
faction of seeing his designs effected. Note, The
period of our days will be the period of all our con-
trivances and hopes for this world; but if with full
purpose of heart we cleave to the Lord, death will
not break off that purpose.

Job, being thus put upon new counsels, was under
a constant uneasiness; {v. 12. ) 7'Ae thoughts of his
heart being broken, thejj changed the flight into
day, and shortened the light. Some, in their vunity
and riot, turn night into day and day into night; but
Job did so, through trouble and anguish of spirit,
which was a hindei'ance, (1.) To the repose of the
night; keeping his eyes waking, so that tlie night
was as wearisume to him as the day, and the tosses
of the night tired him as much as the toils of the
day. (2. ) To the entertainments of the day. ' ' The
light of the morning is welcome, but, by reason of
this inward darkness, tlie comfort of it is soon
gone, and the day is to me as dismal as the black
and dark night," Deut. xxviii. 67. See what reason
we have to be thankful for the health and ease
which enable us to welcome both the shadows of
the evening and the light of the morning.

2. All his expectations from this world would
very shortly be buried in the grave with him; so
that it was a jest for him to think of such mighty
things as they had flattered him with the hopes of;
{ch. V. 19. — viii. 21. — xi. 17.) "Alas, you do but
make a fool of me. "

(1.) He saw himself just dropping into the grave.
A convenient house, an easy bed, and agreeable re-
lations, are some of those things which we take sa-
tisfaction in in this world: Job expected not any of
these above ground; all he felt, and all he had in
view, was unpleasing and disagreeable, but under
ground he expected them.

[1.] He counted upon no house but the grave;
{y. 13.) " If I wait, if there be any place where 1
shall ever be easy again, it must be in the grave. I
should deceive myself, if I should count upon any
outlet from my trouble but what death will give
me. Nothing is so sure as that. " Note, In all our
prosperity, it is good to keep death in prospect.
Whatever we expect, let us be sure to expect that;
for that may pre\ ent other things which we expect,
but nothing will prevent that. But see how he en-
deavours not only to reconcile himself to the grave,
but to recommend it to himself: "It is my house."
The grave is a house; to the wicked it is a prison-
house; {ch. xxiv. 19, 20.) to the godly it is Betha-
bara, a fiassage-house in their way home. "It is
my house, mine by descent, I am born to it; it is my
father's house; mine by purchase, I have made
myself obnoxious to it." We must every one of us
shortly remove to this house, and it is our wisdom
to provide accordingly; let us think of removing,
and send before to our long home.

[2. ] He counted upon no quiet bed but in the
darkness; "There," says he, " I have made my
bed. It is made, for it is ready, and I am just going
to it." The grave is a bed, for we shall rest in it
the evening of our day on earth, and rise from it in
the morning of our everlasting day, Isa. Ivii. 2.
Let this make good people willing to die; it is but
going to bed, they ai'e weary and sleepy, and it is
time that they were in their beds; why should
they not go willingly, when their Father calls?
" Nay, / have made my bed, by preparation for it;
have endeavoured to make it easy, by keeping
conscience pure, by seeing Christ lymg in this bed,
and so turning it into a bed of spices, and by looking
bevond it to the resurrection. "

[3.] He counted upon no agreeable relations but
wiiai he had m the grave; (f. 14.) / have cried to

corruption, that is, to the grave, where the body
will corrupt. Thou art my father, for our bodies
were formed out of the earth, and to the worms
there. Ye are my mother and my sister, to whom I
am allied, for 7nan is a worm, and with whom I
must be conversant, for the worms shall cover us,
ch. xxi. 26. Job complained that his kindred were
estranged from him, {ch. xix. 13, 14.) therefore
here he claims acquaintance with other relations,
that would cleave to him, when those disowned
him. Note, First, We are all of us near akin to
corruption and the worms. Secondly, It is, there-
fore, good to make ourselves familiar with them, by
conversing much with them in our thoughts and
meditations, which would very much help us above
the inordinate lo\ e of life and fear of death.

(2. ) He saw all his hopes from this world drop-
ping into the grave with him; {y. 15, 16.) "Seeing
1 must shortly leave the world, where is now m.y
hofie? How can I expect to prosper, who do not ex-
pect to live?" He is not hopeless, but his hope is
not there where they would have it be. If in this
life only he had ho/ie, he were of all men most mi-
serable: " No, as for my hope, that hope which I
comfort and support myself with, who shall see it?
It is something out ot sight that I hope for, not
things that are seen, that are temporal, but things
not seen, that are eternal. " What is his hope, he will
tell us, ch, xix. 25. JVon est mortale quod o/tto,
immortale fieto — J seek not for that which fierishes,
but for that which abides for ever. " But as for the
hopes you would buoy me up with, they shall go
down with me to the bars of the pit; you are dying
men, and cannot make good your promises, I am a
dying man, and cannot enjoy the good you promise.
Since, therefore, our rest will be together in the
dust, let us all lay aside the thouglits of this world,
and set our hearts upon another." We must shortly
be in the dust, for dust we are, dust and ashes in
the pit, under the bars of the pit, held fast t'nei-e,
never to loose the bands of death till the general
resurrection. But we shall rest there, we shall rest
together there. Job and his friends could not agree
now, but they will both be quiet in the grave; the
dust of that will shortly stop their mouths, and put
an end to the controversy. Let the foresight of this
cool the heat of all contenders, and moderate the
disputers of this world.

CHAP. XVIII.

In this chapter, Bildad makes a second assault upon Job.
hi his first discourse (ch. viii.) he had given him en-
couragement to hope that all should yet be well with
him. But here, there is not a word of that ; he is grown
more peevish, and is so far from being convinced by
Job's reasonings, that he is but more exasperated. I.
He sharply reproves Job, as haughty and passionate,
and obstinate in his opinion, v. 1 . . 4. II. He enlarges
upon ihe doctrine he had before maintained, concerning
the misery of wicked people, and the ruin that attends
them, V. 5. .21. In which he seems, all along, to have
an eye to Job's complaints of the miserable condition he
was in, that he was in the dark, bewildered, ensnared,
terrified, and hastening out of the world. " This," says
Bildad, " is the condition of a wicked man ; and, there-
fore, thou art one."

l.npHEN answered Bildad the Sluihite,
JL and said, 2. How long loill it be
ere you lYiake an end of words ? mark, and
afterwards we will speak. 3. Wlierefoie
are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile
in your sight ? 4. He teareth himself in his
anger : shall the earth be forsaken for thee ?
and shall the rock be removed out of his
place ?

88

JOB, XVIII.

Bildad here shoots his arrows, even bitter words,
against poor Job, little thinking, that, though he
was a wise and good man, in this instance he was
serving Satan's design, in adding to his affliction.

1. He charges him with idle, endless, talk, as
Eliphaz had done; {cli. xv, 2, 3. ) How long ivill it
be ere ye make an end of words? v. 2. Here he re-
flects, not only upon Job himself, but either upon
all the managers of the conference, (thinking, per-
haps, that Eliphaz and Zophar did not speak so
close to the purpose as they might have done,) or
upon some that were present, who, possibly, took
part with Job, and put in a word now and then in
his favour, though it be not recorded. Bildad was
weary of hearing others speak, and impatient till it
came to his turn; which cannot be observed to any
man's praise, for we ought to be swift to hear, and
slow to speak. It is common for contenders to mo-
nopolize the reputation of wisdom, and then to in-
sist upon it as their privilege to be dictators. How
unbecoming that is in others, e\ ery one can see;
but few that are guilty of it can see it in thenri-
selves. Time was, when Job had the last word in
all debates; {c/i. xxix. 22.) Jfter my words they
sfiake not again. Then he was in power and pros-
perity; but now that he was impoverished and
brouglit low, he could scarcely be allowed to speak
at all, and every thing he said was as much vilihed
as formerlv it had been magnified. Wisdom,
therefore, (as the world goes) is good with an inhe-
ritance; (Eccl. vii. 11.) tor the floor man's wisdom
is despised, and, because he is poor, his words are
r.ot heard, Eccl. ix. 16.

2. With a regardlessness of what was said to
him, intimated in that, Mark, and afterwards we
will sfieak. And it is to no purpose to speak,
though what is said be ever so much to the purpose,
if those to whom it is spoken will not mark and
obser\e it. Let the ear be ofiened to hear as the
learned, and then the tongues of the learned will do
good service, (Isa. 1. 4.) and not otherwise. It is
an encouragement to those that speak of the things
of God, to see the hearers attentive.

3. With a haughty contempt and disdain of his
friends, and of that which they offered; (r. 3.)
IVhcrrfore are we counted as beasts? This was in-
vidious: Job had indeed called them mockers, had
represented them both as unwise and as unkind,
wanting both in the reason and tenderness of men,
but he did not count them beasts; yet Bildad so repre-
sents it, (1.) Bee luse his high spirit resented what
Job had said, as if it had been the greatest affront
imagln ible. Proud men are apt to think themselves
slighted more than really they are. (2.) Because
his liot spiiit was willing to find a pretence to be
hard upon Jol). Those that incline to be severe
upon others, will have it thought that they have
first been so upon them.

4. WiMi outrageous passion; He teareth himself
in his ani^er, v. 4. Herein he seems to reflect upon
what Job had said, {ch. xiii. 14.) Wherefore do J
take mu, flesh in my teeth? " It is thine own fault,"
says Bildad; or he reflected upon what he said, {ch.
xvi. 9.) where he seemed to charge it up'n God;
or, as some think, upon Eliphaz; He teareth me in
his wrath. "No," says Bildad, "thou alone shalt
bear it." He teareth himself in his anger. Note,
Anger is a sin tliat is its own punishment. Fretful,
passionate, people tear and torment themselves.
He tearrth his soul, so the word is; every sin wounds
the soul, tears th it, wrongs that, (Prov. viii. 36.)
unbridled passions particularly.

5. With a proud and arrogant expectation to give
law even to Providence itself; "Shall the earth be
fjrsaken for thee? Surely not; there is no reason

for that, that tlie course of nature should be changed,
and the settled rules of government violated, to gra-

tify the humour of one man. Job, dos^ thou think
the world cannot stand without thee; but that, if
thou art ruined, all the world is ruined and forsaken
with thee?" Some make it a reproof of Job's jus-
tification of himself, falsely insinuating, that either
Job was a wicked man, or we must deny a Provi-
dence, and suppose that God has forsaken the earth,
and the Rock of ages is removed. It is rather a
just reproof of his passionate complaints; when we
quarrel with the events of Providence, we forget,
that, whatever befalls u|, it is, (1.) According to
the eternal purpose and counsel of God. (2. ) Ac-
cording to the written word. Thus it is written,
that in the world we must have tribulation, that
since we sin daily, we must expect to smart for it;
and, (3.) According to the usual way and custom,
the tracK. of Providence, nothing but what is com-
mon to men: and to expect that God's counsels
should change, his method alter, and his word fail,
to please us, is as absurd and unreasonable as to
think that the earth should be forsaken for us, and
the rock removed out of its place.

5. Yea, the light of the wicked shall be
put out, and the spark of his fire shall not
shine. 6. The light shall be dark in his
tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out
with him. 7. The steps of his strength
shall be straitened, and his own counsel
shall cast him down. 8. For he is cast into
a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon
a snare. 9. The gin shall take him by the
heel, and the robber shall prevail against
him. 10. The snare is laid for him in the
ground, and a trap for him in the way.

The rest of Bildad's discourse is entirely taken
up in an elegant description of the miserable condi-
tion of a wicked man, in which there is a great
deal of certain truth, and which will be of excellent
use, if duly considered, that a sinful condition is a
sad condition, and that iniquity will be men's ruin,
if they do not repent of it. But, 1. It is not true
that all wicked people are visibly and openly made
thus miserable in this world; nor, 2. 1 hat all who
are brought into great distress and trouble in this
world, are therefore to be deemed and adjudged
wicked men, though no other proof njipears against
them ; and therefore, though Bildad thought the ap-
plication of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe
nor just. In these verses we have,

(1.) The destruction of the wicked foreseen and
foretold, underthe similitude of darkness; (t. 5, 6.)
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out. E' en
his light, the best and brightest part of him, shall
be put out; even that which he rejoiced in, shall
fail him. Or, the yea may refer to Job's complaints
of the great distress he was in, and the darkness he
should shortly make his bed in. "Yea," says Bil-
dad, "so it is, thou art clouded, and straitened, and
made miserable, and no better could be expected;
for the light of the wicked shall be put out, and
therefore thine shall." Observe here, [1.] The
wicked may have some light for a while, some
pleasure, some joy, some hope, within, as well as
wealth, and honour, and power, without. But his
light is but a spark, {v. 5.) a little thing, and soon
extinguished. It is but a candle, {v. 6.) wasting
and burning down, and easily blown out. It is not
the light of the Lord, (that is, sun-light,) but the
light of his own fire, and sparks of his own kindling,
Isa. 1. 11. [2.'] Light will certainly be put out at
! length, quite put out, so that not the least spark of

it shall remain, with which to kindle another tire.
Even while he is in his tabernacle, while he is in the
body, which is the tabernacle of the soul, (2 Cor. v.
1.) the light shall be dark, he shall have no true
solid comfort, no joy that is satisfying, no hope that
IS supporting; even the light that is in him is
darkness; and how great is that darkness.' But,
when he is put out of this tabernacle by death, his
candle shall be fiut out with him. The period of
his life will be the final period of all his days, and
will turn all his hopes into endless despair. Jt'hen
a wicked man dies, his exjiectation shall perish,
Prov. xi. 7. He shall lie down in sorrow.

(2. ) The preparatives for that destruction repre-
sented under the similitude of a beast or bird caught
in a snare, or a malefactor arrested and taken into
custody,, in oider to his punishment, v. 7 • -lO.

[1.] Sitan is prep iiing for his destruction. He
is the robber that shall fir ev ail against him; {y. 9.)
for as he was a murderer, so he was a robber, from
the beginning. He, as the tempter, lays snares for
sinners in the way, wherever they go, and he shall
prevail. If he make them sinful like himself, he
will make them miserable like himself. He hunts
for the firecioiis life.

[2. ] He is himself preparing for his own destruc-
tion, by going on in sin, and so treasuring ufi wrath
against the day of wrath. God gives him up, as he
deserves and desires, to his own counsels, and then
his own counsels cast him down, v. 7. His sinful
projects and pursuits bring him into mischief. He
IS cast into a net by his own feet, (i;. 8.) runs upon
his own destruction, is snared in the work of hia
own hands, (Ps. ix. 16.) his own tongue falls upon
him, Ps. Ixiv. 8. In the transgression of an evil
man there is a snare.

[3. ] God is preparing for his destruction. The
sinner by his sin is preparing the fuel, and then God
by his wrath is preparing the fire. See here, First,
How the sinner is infatuated, to run himself into the
snare; whom God will destroy, he infatuates. Se-
condly, How he is embarrassed; the steps of his
strength, his mighty designs and efforts, shall be
straitened, so that he shall not compass what he
intended; and the more he strives to extricate him-
self, the more will he be entangled. Evil men wax
worse and worse. Thirdly, How he is secured and
kept from outrunning the judgments of God that
are in pursuit of him; the gin shall take him by the
heel. He can no more escape the divine wrath that
is in pursuit of him, than a man, so held, can flee
from the pursuer. God knows how to reserve the
wicked for the day of judgment, 2 Pet. ii. 9.

1 1 . Terrors shall make him afraid on
every side, and shall drive him to his feet.

12, His strength shall be hunger-bitten,
and destruction shall he ready at his side.

1 3, It shall devour the strength of his skin :
even the first-born of death shall devour his
strength. 14. His confidence shall be root-
ed out of his tabernacle ; and it shall bring
him to the king of terrors. 15, It shall
dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none
of his : brimstone shall be scattered upon his
habitation. 16. His roots shall be dried up
beneath, and above shall his branch be cut
off, 17. His remembrance shall perish
from the earth, and he shall have no name
in the street. 18. He shall be driven from
light into darkness, and chased out of the
vvoild. 1 9, He shall neither have son nor

Vol. III.— M

JOB, XVIIl. 89

nephew among his people, nor any remain-
ing in his dwellings. 20. They that conH;
after him shall be astonished at his day, as
tliey that went before were affrighted. 21
Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
and this is the place of him that knoweth
not God.

Bildad here describes the destruction itself which
wicked people are reserved for in the other world,
and which, in some degree, often seizes them in
this world. Come, and see what a miserable con-
dition the sinner is in, when his day comes to fall.

I. See him disheartened and weakened by conti-
nual terrors, arising from the sense of his own guilt
and the dread of God's wrath; (f. 11, 12.) Terror
.shall 7nake him afraid 07i every side: the terrors of
his own conscience shall haunt him, so that he shall
never be easy; wherever he goes, these shall follow
him, which way soever he looks, these shall stare
him in the face. It will make him tremble to see
himself fought against by the whole creation, to see
Heaven frowning on him, hell gaping for him, and
earth sick of him. He that carries his own accuser,
and his own tormentors, always in his bosom, can-
not but be afraid on every side. This will drive
him to his feet, like the malefactor, who, being con-
scious of his guilt, flees when none pursues, rxow
xxviii. 1. But his feet will do him no service, they
are fast in the snare, v. 9. The sinner may as soon
overpower the divine omnipotence, as overrun the
divine omniscience, Amos ix. 2, 3.

No marvel that the sinner is dispirited, and dis-
tracted with fear, for, 1. He sees his ruin ap-
proaching; destruction shall be ready at his side, to
seize him whenever justice gives the word, so that
he is brought into desolation in a moment, Ps. Ixxiii.
19. 2. He feels himself utterly unable to grapple
with it, either to escape it, or to bear up under it.
That which he relied upon as his strength, (his
wealth, power, pomp, friends, and the hardiness
of his own spirit,) shall fail him in the time of need,
and be hungei--bitten, that is, it shall do him no
more service than a famished man, pining away for
hunger, would do in work or war. The case being
thus with him, no marvel that he is a terror to him-
self. Note, The way of sin is a way of fear, and
leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present
teri'ors of an imjjure and unpacified conscience are
earnests, as they were to Cain and Judas.

II. See him devoured and swallowed up by a
miserable death; and miserable indeed a wicked
man's death is, how secure and jovial soever his
life was.

1. See him dying, arrested by the first bom of
death, some disease, or some stroke that has in it
a more than ordinary resemblance of death itself;
so great a death, as it is called, (2 Cor. i. 10.) a
messenger of death, that has in it an uncommon
strength and terror: the harbingers of death rferour
the strength of his skin, they bring rottenness into
his bones, and consume them. His confidence shall
then be rooted out of his tabernacle; {x>. 14.) that is,
all that he trusts to, for his support, shall be taken
from him, and he shall have nothing to rely upon,
no not his own tabernacle. His own soul was his
confidence, but that shall be rooted out of the ta-
bernacle of the body, as a tree that cumbered the
ground. Thy soul shall be required of thee.

2. See him dead, and see his case then with an
eye of faith. (1.) He is then brought to the king
of terrors. He was surrounded with terrors while
he lived, (x'. 11.) and death was the king of all
those terrors; they fought against the sinner in
death's name, for it is by reason of death that sin-

90

JOB, XIX.

ners are, all their lifetime, subject to bondage, (Heb.
ii. 15. ) and, at length, they will be brought to that
which they so long feared, as a captive to the con-
queror. Death is terrible to nature; our Saviour
himself prayed, Father, save me from this hour;
but to the wicked it is, in a special manner, the king-
of terrors, both as it is a period to that life in which
they placed their happiness, and a passage to that
life where they will find their endless misery. How
happy then are the saints, and how much indebted
to the Lord Jesus, by whom death is so far abolish-
ed, and the pi'operty of it altered, that this king of
terrors is become a friend and servant! (2.) He is
then driven from light into darkness; (y. 18.) from
the light of this world, and his prosperous condition
in it, into darkness, the darkness of the grave, the
darkness of hell, into utter darkness, never to see
light, (Ps. xlix. 19.) not the least gleam, nor any
hopes of it. (3. ) He is then chased out of the world,
hurried and dragged away by the messengers of
death, sore against his will; chased as Adam out of
paradise, for the world is his paradise. It intimates
that he would fain stay here, he is loath to depart,
but go he must; all the world is weary of him, and
therefore chases him out, as glad to be rid of him.
This is death to a wicked man.

III. See his family sunk and cut off, v. 15. The
wrath and curse of God light and lie, not only upon
his head and heart, but upon his house too, to con-
sume it, with the timber and atones thereof, Zech.
v. 4. Death itself shall dwell in his tabernacle, and,
having expelled him, shall take possession of his
house, to the terror and destruction of all that he
leaves behind; even the dwelling shall be ruined
for the sake of its owner, brimstone shall be scat-
tered ufion his habitation, rained upon it as upon
Sodom, to the destruction of which this seems to
have reference. Some think he here upbraids Job
with the burning of his sheep and servants with fire
from heaven. The reason is here given why his
tabernacle is thus marked for ruin, because it is
none of his; that is, it was unjustly got, and kept
from the rightful owner, and therefore let him not
pr;pect either the comfort or the continuance of it.

His children shall perish, either with him or after
him, V. 16. So that his roots being in his own person
dried up. beneath, above, his branch, every child of
his family, shall be cut off. Thus the houses of Jero-
boam, Baasha, and Ahab were cut off; none that de-
scended from them were left alive. They who take
root in the earth, may expect it will thus be dried
up; but if we be rooted in Christ, even our leaf shall
not wither, much less shall our branch be cut off.
Those who consult the true honour of their family,
and the welfare of its branches, will be afraid of
withering it by sin. The extirpation of the sinner's
family is mentioned again ; (y. 19. ) He shall nei-
ther have son nor nefihenv, child nor grandchild, to
enjoy his estate, and bear up his name, nor shall
there be any remaining in his dwelling akin to him.
Sin entails a curse upon posterity, and the iniquity
of the fathers is often visited upon the children.
Herein, also, it is probable that Bildad reflects upon
the death of Job's children and servants, as a fur-
ther proof of his being a wicked man; whereas all
that are written childless, are not thereby written
graceless; there is a name better than that of sons
and daughters.

IV. See his memory buried with him, or made
odious; he shall either be forgotten or spoken of
with dishonour; {v. 17.) His remembrance shall
tierish from the earth; and if it perish from thence,
it perishes wholly, for it was never written in hea-
ven, as the names of the saints are, Luke x. 20.
^11 his honour shall he laid and lost in the dust, or
stVmed with perpetual infamv, so that hesh '11 have
no name in the street, departing without being de-

sired. Thus the judgments of God follow him, af-
ter death, in this world, as an indication of the
misery his soul is in after death, and an earnest of
that everlasting shame and contempt to which he
shall rise in the great day. The memory of the
just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot,
rrov. X. 7.

V. See a universal amazement at his fall, v, 20.
They that see it are affrighted, so sudden is the
change, so dreadful the execution, so threatening
to all about him; and they that come after, and
hear the report of it, are astonished at it; their ears
are made to tingle, and their hearts to tremble, and
they cry out, J^ord, how terrible art thou in thy
judgments! A place or person, utterly ruined, is
said to be made an astonishment, Deut. xxviii. 37.
2 Chron. vii. 21. Jer. xxv. 9, 18. Horrible sins
bring strange punishments.

Lastly, See all this averred as the unanimous
sense of the patriarchal age, grounded upon their
knowledge? of God, and their many observations of
his providence; {v. 21.) Surely such are the dwel-
lings of the wicked, and this is the place, this the
condition, of him that knows not God! See here
what is the beginning, and what is the end, of the
wickedness of this wicked world. 1. The beginning
of it is ignorance of God, and it is a wilful ignorance,
for there is that to be known of him which is suffi-
cient to leave them for ever inexcusable. They
know not God, and then they commit all sin; Pha-
raoh knows not the Lord, and therefore will net
obey his voice. 2. The end of it, and that is utter
destruction. Such, so miserable, are the dwellings
of the wicked. Vengeance will be taken of those
that know not God, 2 Thess. i. 8. For those whom
he has not honour from, he will get him honour
upon. Let us therefore stand in awe and not sin,
for it will certainly be bitterness in the latter end.

CHAP. XIX. "

This chapter is Job's answer to Bildad's discourse in the
foregoing chapter. Though his spirit was grieved and
much heated, and Bildad was very peevish, 3 et he gave
him leave to say all he designed to say, and did not break
in upon him in the midst of his argument; but, when he
had done, he gave him a fair answer; in which, I. He
complains of unkind usage. And very unkindly he
takes it, 1. That his comforters added to his alHiction,
v. 2. . 7. 2. That his God was the Author of his afflic-
tion, v. 8 . . 12. 3. That his relations and friends were
strange to him, and shy of him, in his affliction, v. 13 . . 19.
4. That he had no compassion shown him in his affliction,
V. 20.. 22. II. He comforts himself with the believing
hopes of happiness in the other world, though he had so
little comfort in this, making a very solemn confession
of his faith, with a desire that it might be recorded as an
evidence of his sincerity, v. 23 . . 27. HI. He concludes
with a caution to his friends not to persist in their hard
censures of him, v. 28, 29. If the remonstrance Job
here makes of his grievances may serve sometimes to
justify our complaints, yet his cheerful views of the fu-
ture state, at the same time, may shame us Christians,
and may serve to silence our complaints, or, at least, to
balance them.

1 . f I "^HEN Job answered and said, 2.
JL How long will ye vex my soul, and
break me in pieces with words ? 3. These
ten times have ye reproached me : you are
not ashamed that you make yourselves
strange to me. 4. And be it indeed that 1
have erred, mine error remaineth with my-
self. 5. If indeed ye will mn^mfy i/07irselves
against me, and plead against me my re-
proach ; 6. Know now that God hath
overthrown me, and hath compassed me
with his net. 7. Behold, I cry out of wrong,

JOB, XIX.

but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there
is no judgment.

Job's friends had passed a very severe censure
upon him as a wicked man, because he was so
gi'ie\oiisly afliicted; now here he tells them how
ill he took it to be so censured. Bildad had twice
begun with a How long; {ch. xviii. 2.) and there-
fore Job, being now to answer him particularly, be-
guis with a Honv long too, v, 2. What is not liked,
is commonly thought long; but Job had more reason
to think tliem long who assaulted him, than they
had to think him long, who only vindicated himself.
Better cause may be shown for defending ourselves,
if we have right on our side, than for offending our
bretliren, though we have right on our side. Now
observe here,

I. How he describes their unkindness to him, and
what account he gives of it. 1. They vexed his
soul, and that is more grievous than tlie vexation of
the bones, Ps. \ i. 2, 3. They were his friends, they
came to comfort him, pretended to counsel him for
the best; but, with a great deal of gravity, and af-
fectation of wisdom and piety, they set themselves
to rob him of the only comfort he had now left him
in a good God, a good conscience, and a good name;
and this vexed him to the heart. 2. I'liey drake
him in fiieces with words, and those were surely
hard and very cruel words that would break a man
to pieces: they grieved him, and so brake him; and
therefore there will be a reckoning hereafter for
all the hard speeches spoken against Christ and his
people, Jude 15. 3. They reproached him, {v. 3.)
gave him a bad character, and laid to his charge
tilings that he knew not. To an ingenuous mind
reproach is a cutting thing. 4. They made them-
selves strange to him, were shy of him, now that he
was in his troubles; they did not know him, {ch. ii.
12.) were not free with him, as they used to be
when he was in his prosperity. Those are govern-
ed by the spirit of the world, and not by any princi-
ples of true honour or love, who make themselves
strange to their friends, or God's friends, when they
are in trouble: a friend loves at all times. 5. They
not only estranged themselves from him, but mag-
nijied themselves against him; {y. 5.) not only
looked shy of him, but looked big upon him, and
insulted over him, magnifying themselves, to de-
press him. It is a mean thing, it is a base thing,
thus to trample upon those that are down. 6. They
fileaded against him his reproach, that is, they made
use of his affliction as an argument against him to
prove him a wicked man. They should have plead-
ed for him his integrity, and helped him to take the
comfort of that under his affliction, and so have
pleaded that against his reproach, as St. Paul;
(2 Cor. i. 12. ) but, instead of that, they pleaded his
reproach against his integrity, which was not only
unkind, but very unjust; for where shall we find an
nonest man, if reproach may be admitted for a plea
against him?

II. How he aggravates their unkindness. 1. They
Had thus abused him often; {v. 3.) These ten times
ye have reproached me, that is, very often, as Gen.
xxxi. 7. Numb. xiv. 22. Five times they had
spoken, and eveiy speech was a double reproach.
He spake as if he had kept a particular account of
their reproaches, and could tell just how many they
were: it is but a peevish and unfriendly thing to do
so, and looks like a design of retaliation and revenge:
we better befriend our own peace by forgetting in-
juries and unkindnesses, than by remembering them
and scoring them up. 2. They continued still to do
it, and seemed resolved to persist in it; "How long
will ye do it ?" v. 2, 5. "I see you will magnify
yourselves against me, notwithstanding all I have
said in mine own justification. " Those that speak

91

too much, seldom tnink they have said enough;
and, when the mouth is opened in passion, the ear
IS shut to reason. 3. Tliey were not ashamed of
what they did, v. 3. They had reason to be ashamed
of their hard-heaitedness, so ill becoming men, and
their uncharitableness, so ill becoming good men, and
their deceitfulness, so ill becoming friends; but were
they ashamed? No, though they were told of it again
and again, yet they could not blush.

III. How he answers their harsh censures, by
showing them that what they condemned was capa-
ble of excuse, which they ought to have considered.

1. The errorsof his judgment were excusable; {v.
4. ) "Beit indeed that I have erred, that I am in the
wrong through ignorance or mistake," which may
well be supposed concerning men, concerning good
men; Humanum est 'errare — Error cleaves to hu-
manity; and we must be willing to suppose it con-
cerning ourseh es. It is folly to think ourselves in-
fallible. " But be it so," said Job, '• mine error re-
maineth with myself," that is, "1 speak according
to the best of my judgment, with all sincerity, and
not from a spirit of contradiction." Or, "If I be
in an error, I keep it to myself, and do not impose
it upon others as you do. I only prove myself and
my own work by it, I meddle not with other people,
either to teach them or to judge them." Men's
errors are the more excusable, if they keep them
to themselves, and do not disturb others with them.
Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself. Some give this
sense of these words; "If I be in an error, it is I
that must smart for it; and therefore you need not
concern yourselves; nay, it is I that do smart, and
smart severely, for it; and therefore you need not
add to my misery by your reproaches."

2. The breakings out of his passion, though net
justifiable, yet were excusable, considering the vast-
ness of his grief, and the extremity of his misery.
"It you will go on to cavil at every complaining
word I speak, will make the worst of it, and im-
prove it against me, yet take the cause of the com-
plaint along with you, and weigh that, before you
pass a judgment upon the complaint, and turn it to
my reproach: know then that God has overcome
me." v. 6. Three things he would have them con-
sider, (1.) That his trouble was very great. He
was overthrown, and could not help himself, en-
closed as in a net, and could not get out. (2. ) That
God was the Author of it, and that in it he fought
against him: " It was his hand that overthrew me,
it is in his net that I am enclosed; and therefore ycu
need not appear against me thus; I have enough to
do to grapple with God's displeasure, let me not
have yours also. Let God's controversy with me
be ended, before you begin yours." It is barbarous
to persecute him whom God hath smitten, and to
talk to the grief of one whom he hath wounded, Ps.
Ixix. 26. (3. ) That he could not obtain any hope
of the redress of his grievances, v. 7. He com-
plained of his pain, but got no ease; begged to know
the cause of his afflictions, but could not discover it;
appealed to God's tribunal for the clearing of his
innocency, but could not obtain a hearing, much
less a judgment, upon his appfeal ; I cry out of wrong,
but I am not heard. God, for a time, may seem to
turn away his ear from his people, to be angry at
their prayers, and overlook their appeals to him,
and they must be excused if, in that case, they com-
plain bitterly. Woe unto us if God be against us!

8. He hath fenced up my way that I can-
not pass, and he hath set darkness in my
paths. 9. He hath stripped me of my glory,
and taken the crown from my head. 1 0.
He hath destroyed me on every side, and 1
am gone: and mv hope hath he removed

92

JOB, XIX.

like a tree. 11. He hath also khidled his
wrath against me, and lie counteth me unto
him as one of his enemies. 1 2. His troops
come together, and raise up their way
against me, and encamp round about my
tabernacle. 1 3. He hath put my brethren
far from me, and mine acquaintance are
verily estranged from me. 1 4. iVJy kinsfolk
have failed, and my familiar friends have
foi gotten me. 15. They that dwell in my
house, and my maids, count me for a stran-
ger: I am an alien in their sight. 16. I
called my servant, and he gave me no an-
swer: I entreated him with my mouth. 17.
My breath is strange to my wife, though I
enti-eated for the children's sake of mine own
body. 18. Yea, young children despised
me; I arose, and they spake against me.
1 9. All my inward friends abhorred me :
and they whom I loved are turned against
me. 20. My bone cleaveth to my skin and
to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin
of my teeth. 21. Have pity upon me, have
pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the
hand of God hath touched me. 22. Why
do ye persecute me as God, and are not
satisfied with my flesh ?

Bildad had very disingenuously perverted Job's
complaints, by making them the description of the
miserable condition of a wicked man; and yet lie
repeats them here, to move their pity, and to work
upon their good nature, if they had any left in them.

I. He complains of the tokens of God's displeasure
which he was under, and which infused the worm-
wood and gall into the affliction and misery. How
doleful are the accents of his complaints; {v. 11.)
" He hath kindled his wrath against me, which
flames and terrifies me, which burns and pains me. "
What is the fire of hell but the wrath of God? Sear-
ed consciences will feel it hereafter, but do not fear
it now. Enlightened consciences fear it now, but
shall not feel it hereafter. Job's present apprehen-
sion was, that God counted him as one of his ene-
mies; and yet, at the same time, God lo\'ed him,
and gloried in him, as his faithful friend. It is a
gross mistake, but a very common one, to think
that whom God afflicts, he treats as his enemies;
whereas, on the contrary, as many as he loves, he
rebukes arid chastens; it is the discipline of his sons.

Which way soever Job looked, he thought he saw
the tokens of God's displeasure against him.

1. Did he look back upon his former prosperity?
He saw God's hand putting an end to that; {v. 9.)
" He has strifified me of my glory, my wealth,
honour, power, and all the opportunity I had of
doing good; my children were my glory, but I have
lost them ; and whatevernvas a crown to my head,
he has taken it from me, and has laid all mine
honour in the dust." See the vanity of worldly
glory, it is what we may be soon stripped of; and
whatever strips us, we must see and own God's
hand in it, and comply with his design.

2. Did he look down upon his present troubles?
He saw God giving them their commission, and
their orders to attack him. They are his troops,
that act by his direction, which encamfi against me,
V. 12. It did not so much trouble him, that his
miseries came upon him in troops, as that they

were Gcd's troops, m whom it seemed as if God
fouglit against him, and intended liis dtst iictirn.
(iod's troops encamfied rAiud hm tar.('v:uviv, .;S
soldiers lay siege to a strong city, cutting i ff"all pn -
visions from being brought into it, and battering it
continually ; thus was Job's tabernacle besieged
Time was when God's hosts encamped round him
for safety; Hast thou not made a hedge about him/
Now, on the contrary, they surrounded hin>, to his
terror, and destroyed him on every side, v. 10.

3. Did he look forward for deliverance? He saw
the hand of God cutting off all hopes of that; {v. 8. )
*'//(? hath fenced ufi my way, that I cannot fiass;
I have now no way left to help myself, either to
extricate myself out of my tn ubles, or to ease my-
self under them. Would I make any motion, take
any steps, toward deliverance? I find my way hedged
ufi; I cannot do what I would; nay, if 1 would please
myself with the prospect of a deli\ erance herei.fter,
I cannot do it; it is not only out of my reacli, but
out of my sight; God hath set darkness in my paths,
and there is none to tell me how long," Ps. Ixxiv.
9. He concludes; {y. 10.) "I am gone, quite lest
and undone for this world; my hofxe hath he removed
like a tree, cut down, or plucked up by the roots,
which will ne\ er grow again." Hope in this life is a
perishing thing, but the hope of good men, when it
is cut off from this world, is but removed like a tree,
transplanted from this nursery to the garden of the
Lord. We shall have no reason to complain, if
God thus remove our hopes from the sand to the
rock, from things temporal to things eternal.

II. He complains of the imkindness of his reh.-
tions, and of all his old acquaintance. In this also
he owns the hand of God; {v. 13.) He has put my
brethren far from me, that is, " He has laid those
afflictions upon me, which frighten them from me,
and make them stand aloof from my sores." As it
was their sin, God was not the Author of it; it s
Satan that alienates men's minds from their brethren
in affliction; but as it was Job's trouble, (lod ordered
it for the completing of his trial. As we must eye
the hand of God in all the injuries we recei\ e from
our enemies, (the Lord bade Shimei curse Da\ id,)
so also in all the slights and unkindnesses we receive
from our friends, which will help us to bear them
the more patiently. Every creature is that to us,
(kind or unkind, comfortable or uncomfortable,)
which God makes it to be: yet this does not excu^e
Job's relations and friends from the guilt of horrid
ingratitude and injustice to him, which he had rea-
son to complain of; few could have borne it so well
as he did. He takes notice of the unkindness,

1. Of his kindred and acquaintance, his neigh-
bors, and such as he had formerly been familiar with,
who were bound by all the laws of friendship and
civility to concern themselves for him, to visit hint,
and inquire after him, and to be ready to do liim alt
the good offices that lay in their power; yet these
were estranged from him, {v. 13.) they took no
more care about him than if he had been a strangei
whom they never knew. His kinsfolk, who chiim-
ed relation to him when he was in ])rosperity, imw
failed him; they came short of their former profts-
sions of friendship to him, and his present exyiec-
tations of kindness from them. Even his fimil'ar
fi'iends, whom he was mindful of, had now f rgotten
him, had forgotten both his former friendliness to
them and his present miseries: they had heard of his
troubles, and designed him a visit; but truly they
forgot it, so little affected were they with it.

Nay, his inward friends, the men of his secret,
whom he was most intimate with, and laid in his
bosom, not only forgot him, but abhorred him, kept
as far off him as they could, because he was poor,
and could not entertain them as he used to do, ami
because he was sore, and a loathsome spcctpclc

JOB, XIX.

93

I'hose whom he loved, and who therefore were
worse tlian publicans if they did not love him now
that he was in distress, not only turned from him, i)ut
were turned against him, and did all they could to
make him odious, so to justify themselves in being so
strange to him, v. 19. So uncertain is the friend-
ship of men; but, if God be our Friend, he will not
fail us in a time of need. But let none that pretend
either to humanity or Christianity, ever use their
friends as Job's friends used him: adversity is the
proof of friendship.

2. Of his domestics and family-relations. Some-
times, indeed, we find that, beyond our expectation,
there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother;
but, at least, the master of a family expects to be at-
lended on, and taken care of, by those of his family,
e\ en then when, through weakness of body or mind,
he is become despicable to others. But poor Job was
misused ijy his own family, and some of his worst
foes were those of his own house. He mentions not
his childi-en, they were all dead, and we may sup-
pose that the unkindness of his surviving relations
made him lament the death of his children so much
the more: "If they had been alive," (would he
think,) "I should have had comfort in them." As
for those that were now about him,

(1.) His own servants slighted him: his maids did
not attend him in his illness, but counted him for a
stranger and an alien, v. 15. His other servants
never heeded him; if he called to them they would
not come at his call, but pretended that they did
not hear him. It he asked them a question, they
would not vouchsafe to give him an answer, v. 16.
Job had been a good master to them, and did not
desfiise their cause when they fileaded with him,
(ch. xxxi. 13. ) and yet they were rude to him now,
and despised his cause when he pleaded with them.
We must not think it strange if we receive evil at
the hand of those from whom we have deserved
well. Though he was now sickly, yet he was not
cross with his servants, and imperious, as is too com-
mon, but he entreated his servants with his mouth,
when he had authority to command: and yet they
would not be civil to him, neither kind nor just.
Note, Those that are sick and in sorrow are apt to
take things ill, and be jealous of a slight, and to lay
to heart the least unkindness done to them: when
Job was in affliction, even his servants' neglect of
him troubled him.

(2.) But, one would think, when all forsook him,
the wife of his bosom should have been tender of
him: no, because he would not curse God and die,
as she persuaded him, his breath was strange to her
too, she did not care for coming near him, nor took
any notice of what he said, v. 17. Though he spake
to her, not with the authority, but with the tender-
ness, of a husband, did not command, but entreated
her by that conjugal love which their children were
the pledges of, yet she regarded him not. Some
read it, '• Though I lamented, or bemoaned my-
self, for the children," that is, " for the death of the
children of my own body;" an affliction in which
she was equally concerned with him. Now, it ap-
peared, the Devil spared her to him, not only to be
tiis tempter, but to be his tormentor. By what she
said to him at first. Curse God and die, it appeared
that she had little religion in her; and what can one
expect that is kind and good from those that have
not the fear of God before their eyes, and are not
governed by conscience?

(3. ) Even the little children who were born in his
house, the children of his own servants, who were
his servants by birth, despised him, and spake
against him; (t'. 18.) though he arose in civility to
speak friendly to them, or with authority to check
them, they let him know, that they neither feared
him, nor loved him.

III. He complams of the decay of his body; all
the beauty and strength of that were gi nv. \\ hen
those about him slighted him, if he had been in
health, and at ease, he might have enjoyed himself.
But he could take as little pleasure in himself as
others took in him; {v. 20.) il/j/ bone cleaves now
to my skin, as formerly it did to my flesh; this was
it that filled him with wrinkles; {ch. xvi, 8.) he was
a perfect skeleton, nothing but skin and bones.
Nay, his skin too was almost gone, little remained
unbroken but the skin of his teeth, his gums, and
perhaps his lips, all the rest was fetched off by his
sore boils. See what little reason we ha\ e to in-
dulge the body, which, after all our care, may be
thus consumed by the diseases which it has in itself
the seeds of.

Lastly, Upon all these accounts, he recommends
himself to the compassion of his friends, and justly
blames their harshness with him. From tnis re-
presentation of his deplorable case, it was easy to
infer,

1, That they ought to fiity him, v. 21. This he
begs in the most moving, melting, language that
could be, enough (one would think) to break a heart
of stone: " Have fiity upon me, have pity upon me,
0 ye my friends; if ye will do nothing else for me,
be sorry for me, and show some concern for me;
have pity upon me, for the hand of God hath touched
me; my case is sad indeed, for I am fallen into
the hands of the living God, my spirit is touched
with the sense of his wrath, a calamity of all other
the most piteous." Note, It becomes friends to
pity one another when they are in any trouble, and
not to shut up the bowels of compassion.

2. That, however, they ought not to persecute
him: if they would not ease his affliction by their
pity, yet they must not be so barbarous as to add to
it by their censures and reproaches; {v. 22.) ''Why
do ye persecute me as God'^ Surely his rebukes are
enough for one man to bear, you need not add your
wormwood and gall to the cup of affliction he puts
into my hand, it is bitter enough without that: Gcd
has a sovereign power over me, and may do what he
pleases with me; but do you think that you may do
so too?" No, we must aim to be like the Most
Holy and the Most Merciful, but not like the Most
High and Most Mighty. God gives not account t f
any of his matters, but we must. If they did de-
light in his calamity, let them be satisfied with his
flesh, which was wasted and gone, but let them not,
as if that were too little, wound his spirit, and ruin
his good name. Great tenderness is owing to those
that are in affliction, especially to those that are
troubled in mind.

23. Oh that my words were now written !
oh that they were printed in a book ! 24.
That they were graven with an iron pen and
lead in the rock for ever! 25. For I know
that my Redeemer hveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter dajj upon the earth : 26.,
And though, after my skin, irorms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God :
27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine
eyes shall behold, and not another ; tho?/gh
my reins be consimied within me, 28. But
ye should say, Why persecute we him ? see-
ing the root of the matter is found in me.
29. Be ye afraid of the sword : for wrath
bringeth the punishments of the sword, that
ye may know there is a judgment.

In all the conferences between Job and his fnends,
we do not find any more weighty and considerable

04

JOB, XIX.

lines than these; would one have expected it? Here
is much both of Christ and heaven in these verses:
and he that said such things as these, declared plain-
ly that he sought the better country; that is, the hea-
venly; as the patri trchs of that age did, Heb. xi.
14. We have here Job's creed, or confession of faith :
his belief in God the Father Almighty, the Maker
of heaven and earth, and the principles of natural
religion, he had often professed; but here we find
him no stranger to revealed religion. Though the
revelation of the Promised Seed, and the promised
inheritance, was then discerned only like the dawn-
ing of the day, yet Job was taught of God to believe
in a living Redeemer, and to look for the resurrec-
tion of the dead, and the life of the world to come,
for oif these, doubtless, he miast be understood to
speak: these were the things he comforted himself
with the expectation of, and not a deliverance from
his trouble, or revival of his happiness, in this world,
as some would understand him. For, beside that
the expressions he here uses, of the Redeemer's
standing at the latter day upon the earth, of his see-
ing God, and seeing him' for himself are wretchedly
forced, if they be understood of any temporal de-
liverance, it is very plain that he had no expectation
at all of his return to a prosperous condition in this
world. He had just now said, that his way ivas
fenced up, {y. 8.) and his hope removed like a tree,
V. 10. IS ay, and after this, he expressed his despair
of anv comfort in this life, ch. xxiii. 8, 9. — xxx. 23.
So that we must necessarily understand him of the
redemption of his soul froni the power of the grave,
and his reception to glory, which is spoken of, Ps.
xlix. 15. We have reason to think that Job was just
now under an extraordinary impulse of the blessed
Spirit, which raised him above himself, gave him
light, and gave him utterance, even to his own sur-
prise. And some observe, that, after this, we do
not find in Job's discourses such passionate, peevish,
unbecoming, complaints of God and his providence,
as we have before met with: this hope quieted his
spirit, stilled the storm, and, having here cast an-
chor within the veil, his mind was kept steady from
this time forward. Let us observe,

I. To what intent Job makes this confession of his
faith here; never did any thing come in more per-
tinently, or to better purpose. 1. Job was now ac-
cused, and this was his appeal. His friends re-
proached him as a hypocrite, and contemned him as
a wicked man; but he appeals to his creed, to his
faith, to his hope, and to his own conscience; which
not onlv acquitted him from reigning sin, but com-
forted him with the expectation of a blessed resur-
rection: these are not the words of him that has a
devil. He appeals to the coining of the Redeemer,
from this wrangle at the bar to the judgment of the
bench, even to Him to whom all judgment is com-
mitted, who, he knew, would right him. The con-
sideration of God's day coming, will make it a. very
imall thing with us to he judged of man's judgment,
1 Cor. iv. 3, 4. How easily may we bear the un-
just calumnies and reproaches of men, while we ex-
pect the glorious appearance of our Redeemer, and
his redeemed, at the last day; and that there will
then be a resurrection of names as well as bodies!
2. Job was now afflicted, and this was his cordial;
when he was pressed above measure, this kept him
from fainting; he believed that he should see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; not
in this world, for that is the land of the dying.

IT. With what a solemn preface he-introduces it,
V. 23, 24. He breaks off his complaints abrnptlv,
Co triumph in his comforts; which he does, not only
f->r his own satisfaction, but for the edification of
others. Those now about him, he feared, would
little rogird what he said, and so it proved; he
therefore wished it might be recorded for the gene-

rations to come. 0 that my words were now written
the words I am now about to say ! As if he h:'.d said,
"1 own I ha\ e spoken many un;idvised words, which
I could wish might be fcrgotten, for they will nei-
ther do me credit, nor do others good. But I air
now going to speak deliberately, and th.it whicli I
desire may be pul)lished to all the world, and pre-
served for the generations to come, in perpetuam
ret memoriam — for an abiding memorial, and tliere-
fore that it may be written plain, drawn out in large
and legible characters, so that he that runs may
read it; and that it may not be left in loose papers,
but put into a book; or, if that should perish, that
it may be engraven like an inscription upon a monu-
ment, with an iron pen, in lead, or in the stone;
let the engraver use all his art to make it a durable
appeal to posterity. " That which Job here some-
what passionately wished for, God graciously grant-
ed him; his words are written, they are printed in
God's book; so that wherever that book is read,
there shall this be told for a memorial concerning
Job, He iielieved, therefore he spake.

III. What his confession itself is; what are the
words which he would have to be written. We
here have them written, v. 25- '27. Let us observe
them.

1. He believes the glory of the Redeemer, and
his own interest in him; (i'. 25.) / know that my
Redeemer liveth; that he is in being, and is my
Life, and that he shall stand at last, or stand the
last, or at the latter day, upon (or above) the earth.
He shall be raised up, or. He shall be (at the latter
day, that is, in the fulness of time; the gospel-dav
is called the last time, because that is the last dis-
pensation) upon the earth : so it points at his incar
nation; or. He shall be lifted up from the earth; (so
it points at his crucifixion;) or, raised up out of the
earth; so it is applicable to his resurrection; or, as
we commonly understand it. At the end of time,
he shall appear over the earth, for he shall come in
the clouds, and every eye shall see liim, so close stall
he come to this earth. He shall stand upon the
dust, so the word is; upon all his enemies, which
shall be put as dust under his feet; and he shall
tread upon them and triumph over them.

Observe here, (1. ) That there is a Redeemer pro-
vided for fallen man, and Jesus Christ is that Re-
deemer. The word is Goel, which is used for thf
next of kin, to whom, by the law of Moses, the
right of redeeming a mortgaged estate did belong.
Lev. XXV. 25. Our heavenly inheritance was mort-
gaged by sin, we are ourselves utterly unable to re-
deem it,' Christ is near of kin to us, the next Kins-
man that is able to redeem; he has paid our debt,
satisfied God's justice for sin, and so has taken off
the mortgage, and made a new settlement of the
inheritance! Our persons also want a Redeemer,
we are sold for sin, and sold under sin ; our Lord
Jesus has wrought out a redemption for us, and pro-
claims redemption to us, and so he is truly the Re-
deemer. (2.) He is a living Redeemer: as we are
made by a living God, so we are saved by a living
Redeemer, who is both almighty and eternal, and is
therefore able to save to the uttermost. Of him ?>
is witnessed that he liveth; Heb. vii. 8. Rev. i. 18
We are dying, but he liveth, and hath assured us,
that because he lrx>es, we shall live also, John xiv. 19.
(3.) There are those that, through grace, have at
interest in this Redeemer, and can, upon gooc
grounds, call him theirs. When Job had lost all hi?
wealth, and all his friends, yet he was not separated
from Christ, nor cut off from his relation to r.im.
"Still he is my Redeemer." That next Kinsman
adhered to him when all his other kindred forsook
him, and he had the comfort of it. (4.) Our inte
rest in the Redeemer is a thing that may be known,
and, where it is known, it may be triumphed in, .i«

JOB, XTX.

95

sufficient to balance all our griefs; I know. Observe
witli what an air of assurance he speaks it, as one
confident of this very thing; / know that my Re-
deemer lives. His friends had often charged him
with ignorance or vain knowledge; but lie knows
enough, and knows to good purpose, who knows
Christ to be his Redeemer. (5.) There will be a
latter day, a last day, a day when time shall be no
more, Rev. x. 6. That is a day we are concerned
to think of every day. (6.) Our Redeemer will, at
that day, stand upon the earth, or over the earth,
to summon the dead out of their graves, and deter-
mine them to an unchangeable state, for to him all
judgment is committed. He shall stand, at the last,
on the dust to which this earth will be reduced by
the conflagration.

2. He believes the happiness of the redeemed,
and his own title to that happiness, that, at Christ's
second coming, believers shall be raised up in glory,
and so made pei-fectly blessed in the vision and frui-
tion of God; and this he believes with application
to himself.

(1.) He counts upon the corrupting of his body in
the grave, and speaks of it with a holy carelessness
andimconcernedness; Though, after my skin (which
is already wasted and gone, none of it remaining but
the skin of my teeth, v. 20. ) they destroy (they that
are appointed to destroy it, the gra\ e, and the worms
in it, of whom he had spoken, ch. xvii. 14.) this body.
The word body is added: "Though they destroy
this, this skeleton, this shadow, (cA. xvii. 7.) this
that I lay my hand upon," or (pointing perhaps to
his weak and withered limbs) "this that you see,
call it what you will, I expect that shortly it will be
a feast for the worms." Christ's body saw not cor-
ruption, but ours must ! And Job mentions this, that
the glory of the resurrection he believed and hoped
for might shine the more bright. Note, It is good
for us often to think, not only of the approaching
death of our bodies, but of their destruction and dis-
solution m the grave; yet let not that discourage our
hope of their resurrection, for the same power that
made man's body at first, out of common dust, can
raise it out of its own dust This body, which we
now take such care about, and make such provision
for, will, in a little time, be destroyed; Even my
reins (says Job) shall be consumed within me;
{%'. 27. ) the innermost part of the body, which per-
haps putrifies first.

(2.) He comforts himself with the hopes of hap-
piness on the other side death and the grave; After
I shall avjake, (so the margin reads it,) though this
body be destroyed, yet out of myjtesh shall I see God.

[i.] Soul and body shall come together again.
That body which must be destroyed in the grave,
shall be raised again, a glorious body; Yet in my
flesh I shall see God. The separate soul has eves
wherewith to see God, eyes of the mind; but Job
speaks of seeing him with eyes of flesh, in my flesh,
with mine eyes; the same body that died shall rise
again, a true body, but a glorified body, fit for the
employments and entertainmentsof that world; and
therefore a spiritual body, 1 Cor. xv. 44. Let us
therefore glorify God with our bodies, because there
is such a glory designed for them.

[2."] Job and God shall come together again; In
my flesh shall I see God, that is, the glorified Re-
deemer, who is God. / shall see God in mv flesh,
so some read it; the Son of God clothed with a bodv
which will be visible even to eyes of flesh. Though
the body, in the grave, seem despicable and mise-
r ible, yet it shall be dignified and made happv in
the vision of God. Job now complained that he
could not get a sight of God, {ch. xxiii. 8, 9.) but
hopes to see him shortly, never more to lose the
siTht of him, and that sight of him will be the more
welcome after the present darkness and distance.

Note, It is the blessedness of the blessed that they
shall see God, shall see him as he is, see him face
to face, and no longer through a glass darkly. See
with what pleasure holy Job enlarges upon this;
{y. 27.) "Tapiom I shall see for inyself" that is,
"see and enjoy, .see to my own unspeakable com-
fort and satisfaction. I shall see him as mine, as
mine with an appropriating sight," Rev. xxi. 3.
God himself shall be with them, and be their God,
they shall be like him, for they shall see him as he
is, that is, seeing for themselves, 1 John iii. 2. Mine
eyes shall behold him, and not anothei-. First,
"He, and not another for him, shall be seen, not a
type or figure of him, but he himself" Glorified
saints are perfectly sure that they are not imposed
upon, it is no decefitio visus — illusion of the senses.
Secondly, "I, and not another for me, shall see
him. Though my flesh and body be consumed,
yet I shall not need a proxy, I shall see him with
my own eyes-." This was what Job hoped for, and
what he earnestly desired; which, some think, is
the meaning of the last clause, Afy reins are sfient
in my bosom, that is, " All my desires are summed
up and concluded in this; this will crown and com-
plete them all; let me have this, and I shall have
nothing more to desire; it is enough, it is all."
With this the prayers of David, the son of Jesse,
are ended.

IV. The application of this to his friends. His
creed spake comfort to himself, but warning and
terror to them that set themselves against him.

1. It was a word of caution to them, net to pro-
ceed and persist in their unkind usage of him, v.
28. He had repro\ed them for what they had
said, and now tells them what they should say for
the reducing of themselves and one another to a bet-
ter temper. "Why persecute we him thus? Why
do we grieve him and vex him, by censuring and
condemning him, seeing the root of the matter, or
the root of the word, is found in him?" Let this
direct us, (1.) In our care concerning ourselves.
We are all concerned to see to it, that the root
of the matter be found in us. A living, quicken-
ing, commanding, principle of grace in the heart,
is the root of the matter, as necessary to our re-
ligion as the root to the tree, to which it owes
both its fixedness and its fruitfulness: love to God
and our brethren, faith in Christ, hatred of sin —
these are the root of the matter, other things are
but leaves in comparison with this; serious godli-
ness is the one thing needful. (2.) In our conduct
toward our brethren. We are to believe that
many have the root of the matter in them, who are
not in every thing of our mind, who have their fol-
lies, and weaknesses, and mistakes: and, to con-
clude, it is at our peril if we persecute any such.
Woe be to him that offends one of those little ones!
God will resent and revenge it. Job and his friends
differed in some notions concerning the methods of
Pro\idence, but they agreed in the root of the mat-
ter, the belief of another world, and therefore should
not persecute one another for these difl'erences.

2. It was a word of terror to them. Christ's
second coming will be very dreadful to those that
are found smiting their fellow serxmnts; (Matth.
xxiv. 49.) and therefore, {v. 29.) ''Be ye afraid of
the sword, the flaming sword of God's justice, which
turns every way; fear lest you make yourselves
obnoxious to it." Good men need to be frightened
from sin by the terrors of the Almighty, particular-
Iv from the sin of rashly judging their brethren,
Matth. vii. 1. Jam. iii. 1. Those that arc peevish
and passionate with their brethren, censorious of
them, and malicious toward them, should know,
not only that their wrath, whatever it pretends,
works not the righteousness of God, but, (1.) Thev
may expect to smart for it in this world; it bnn!*TS

96

JOB, XX.

the fiunUhments of the fi'ivord: wrath leads to such
crimes as expose men to the sword of the magis-
trate; however, God often takes \engeHnce for it,
and those that showed no mercy, shall find no mer-
cv. (2.) If tliey repent not, that will be an earnest
of worse. By these you may know there is a judg-
ment, not only a present government, but a future
judgment, in which hard speeches must be ac-
counted for.

CHAP. XX.

One would have thought that such an excellent confession
of faith as Job made in the close of the foregoing chap-
ter, should have saiisfied his friends, or, at least, have
mollified them ; but they do not seem to have taken any
notice of it, and therefore Zophar here takes his turn,
enters the lists with Joh, and attacks him with as much
vehemence as before. 1. His preface is short, but hot,
T. 2, 3. II. His discourse is lung, and all upon one sub-
ject, the very same that Bildad was large upon,(ch. xviii.)
the certain misery of wicked people, and the ruin that
awaits them. 1. He asserts in general, that the pros-
perity of a wicked person is short, and his ruin sure, v.
4 . . 9. 2. He proves the misery of his condition by many
instances — That he should have a diseased body, a trou-
bled conscience, a ruined estate, a beggared family, an
infamous name, and that he himself shall perish under
the weight of divine wrath. All this is most curiously
described here in lofty expressions and lively similitudes;
and it often proves true in this world, and always in
another, without repentance, v. 10. . 29. But the great
mistake was, and (as Bishop Patrick expresses it) all
the flaw in his discourse, (which was common to him
with the rest,) that he imagined God never varied from
this method, and therefore Job was, without doubt, a
very bad man, though it did not appear he was, any other
way than by his infelicity.

] . npHEN answered Zophar the Naama-
jL thite, and said, 2. Therefore do my
thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I
make haste. 3. I have heard the check of
my reproach, and the spirit of my under-
standing causeth me to answer. 4. Know-
est thou not this of old, since man was
placed upon earth, 5. That the triumphing
of the wicked is short, and the joy of the
hypocrite kit for a moment? 6. Though
his excellency mount up to the heavens,
and his head reach unto the clouds: 7.
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own
dung : they which have seen him shall say.
Where is he? 8. He shall fly away as a
dream, and shall not be found ; yea, he
shall be chased away as a vision of the
night. 9. The eye also which saw him
shall see him. no more ; neither shall his
place any more behold him.

Here,

I. Zophar begins very passionately, and seems to
be in a great heat at what Job had said- Being
resolved to condenm Job for a bad man, he was
much disjjlcHsed that he talked so like a good man,
und, as it should seem, brake in u])on him, and be-
gin abruptly; {v. 2.) Therefore do my thoughts
rau.se 77ie to answer. He takes no notice of what
Job had said, to move their pity, or to evidence his
nwn integrity, but fastens upon the reproof he gave
them in the close of his discourse, counts that a
re])roach, and thinks himself therefore obliged to
answer, because Job had bidden thein be afraid of
the sword, that he inight not seem to be frightened
bv his menaces. The best counsel is too often ill
taken from an antagonist, and therefore usually

may be well spared. Zophar seemed more in haste
to speak than became a wise mm; but he excuses
it with two things. 1. That Job had gi\en him a
strong provocation; (t'. 3.) "I have heard the chick
of my refiroach, and cannot bear to hear.it any
longer." Job's friends, I doubt, had spirits too
high to deal with a man in his low condition; and
high spirits are impatient of contradiction, and think
themselves affronted, if all about them do not S'V
as they say : they cannot bear a check, but they call
it the check of their refiroach, and then they are
bound in honour to return it, if not to draw upon
him that gave it. 2. That his own heart gave him
a strong instigation. His thoughts caused him tc
answer, {y. 2. ) for out of the abundance of the hear'
the mouth speaks; but he fathers it {v. 3.) upon the
spirit of his understanding: that indeed should cause
us to answer, we should rightly apprehend a thing,
and duly consider it, before we speak to it; but
whether it did so here or no, is a question: men of-
ten mistake the dictates of their passion for the dic-
tates of their reason, and therefore think they do
well to be angry.

II. Zophar proceeds very plainly to show the
ruin and destruction of wicked people, insinuating
that because Job was destroyed and ruined, he was
certainly a wicked man, and a hypocrite.

Observe,

1. How this doctrine is introduced; (t;. 4.) where
he appeals, (1.) To Job's own knowledge and con-
viction; "Knoivest thou not this? Canst thou be
ignorant of a truth so plain.'' Or canst thou doubt
of a truth which has been confirmed by the suffrage
of all mankind?" Those know little, who do not
know that the wages of sin is death. (2.) To the
experience of all ages. It was known of old, since
man was placed upon the earth, that is, ever since
man was made, he has had this truth written in his
heart, that the sin of sinners will be their ruin; and
ever since there were instances of wickedness,
(which there were soon after man was placed on the
earth,) there were instances of the punishments of
it, witness the exclusions of Adam and Cain. When
sin entered into the world, death entered with it:
all the world knows that evil pursues sinners, whom
vengeance suffers not to live, (Acts xxviii. 4.) and
subscribes to that, (Isa. iii. 11.) Woe to the wicked,
it shall be ill with him, sooner or later.

2. How it is laid down; (t. 5.) The triumfihing
of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hyfiocrite
out for a m.oment. Observe, (1.) He asserts the
misery, not only of those who are openly wicked
and profane, but of hypocrites, who secretly prac-
tise wickedness imder a show and profession of 're-
ligion, because such a wicked man he looked upon
Job to be; and it is true that a form of godliness, if
it be made use of for a cloak of maliciousness, does
but make bad worse; dissembled piety is doul)1e
iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be accoi-d-
ingly. The hottest place in hell will be the portion
of hypocrites, as our Saviour intimates, Matth
xxiv. 5\. (2.) He grants that wicked men may,
for a time, prosper, may be secure and easv, imd
very merry ; you may see them in triumph and jny,
triumphing and rejoicing in their wealth artd power,
their gi'andeur and success, triumphing and rei"ic-
ing over their poor honest neighl)ours whoni they
vex and oppress: they feel no evil, they fear none.
Job's friends were loath to own, at first, that wick-
ed people might prosper at all, {ch. iv. 9.) until
Job proved it plainly; (cA. ix. 24. — xii. 6.) and now
Zophar yields it: but, (3.) He lays it down for a
certain truth, that they will not prosper long.
Their joy is but for a moment, and will quicklv
end in endless sorrow; though he be c\cr so great,
and rich, and jovial, he will be humbled, and mor
tified, and made miserable.

JOB, XX.

97

3. How it is illustrated, v. 6, &c.

(1.) He supposes his prosperity to be very high,
as hiijU as you can imagine, v. 6. It is not his wis-
dom and virtue, but his worldly wealth and great-
ness, tliat lie accounts his excellency, and values
himself upon: we will suppose those to mount up to
the heavens, and, since his spirit always rises with
his condition, you may suppose that with it his
head reaches to the clouds. He is every way ad-
vanced, the world has done the utmost it can for
him, he looks down upon all about him with disdain,
while they look up to him with admiration, envy,
or fear; we will suppose him to bid fair for a uni-
versal monarchy. And though he cannot but have
made himself many enemies before he arrived to
this pitch of prosperity, yet he thinks himself as
much out of the reach of tlieir darts as if he were in
tie clouds.

(2. ) He is confident that his ruin will, according-
ly, be very great, and his fall the more dreadful for
his having risen so high; He shall jierish for ever,
V. 7. His pride and security were the certain pre-
sages of his misery. This will certainly be true of
all impenitent sinners in the other world, they shall
be undone, for e\ er undone; but Zophar means his
ruin in this world: and indeed sometimes notorious
sinners are remarkably cut off by present judg-
ments, they have reason enough to fear what Zo-
phar here threatens even the triumphant sinner
with. [1.] A s/zame/u/ destruction. He shall per-
ish like his own dung or dunghill, so loathsome is
he to God and all good men, and so willing will the
world be to part with him, Ps. cxix. 119. Isa. Ixvi.
24. [2.] A sur/irising destruction. He will be
brought into desolation in a moment, (Ps. Ixxiii.
19.) so that those about him, that saw him but just
now, will ask, "iVhere is he? Could he that made
so gieat a figure vanish and expire so suddenly?"
[3.] A swift destruction, -v. 8. He shall fly away
upon the wings of his own terrors, and be chased
away by the just imprecations of all about him, who
would gladly be rid of him. [4 ] An utter destruc-
tion. It will be total; he shall go away like a
dream, or vision of the night, which was a mere
phantasm, Jind, whate\er in it pleased the fancy,
it is quite gone, and nothing of it remains, but what
serves us to laugh at the folly of. It will be final,
V. 9. The eye that saw him, and was ready to
adore him, shall see him no more, and the place he
filled shall no more behold him, having given him
an eternal farewell when he went to his own place,
as Judas, Acts i. 25.

1 0. His children shall seek to please the
poor, and his liands shall restore their goods.

1 1 . His bones are full of the sin of his youth,
which shall lie down with him in the dust.

12. Though wickedness be sweet in his
mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

1 3. Thongh he spare it, and forsake it not,
but keep it still within his mouth ; 1 4. Yet
his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the
gall of asps within him. 1 5. He hath swal-
lowed down riches, and he shall vomit them
up again : God shall cast them out of his
belly. 16. He shall suck the poison of
asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. 17.
He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the
brooks of honey and butter. 18. That
which he laboured for shall he restore, and
shall not swallow it down : according to
his substance shall the restitution he^ and ho

Vol. III.— N

shall not rejoice therein. 19. Because he
hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor ,
because he hath violently taken away a
house which he builded not; 20. Surely
he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he
shall not save of that which he desired. 21 ,
There shall none of his meat be loft : there-
fore shall no man look for his goods. 22,
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall bo
in straits: every hand of the wicked shall
come upon him.

The instances here gi\ en nf the miserable condi-
tion of the wicked man in this world, are expressed
with a great fulness and fluency of language, and
the same thing returned to again, and repeated in
other words. Let us therefore reduce the particu-
lars to their proper heads; and observe,

I. What his wickedness is, for which he is pu
nished.

1. The lusts of the flesh, here called the sins oj
his youth; {v. 11.) for those are the sins which, at
that age, people are most tempted to. The forbid ■
den pleasures of sense are said to be sivect in hit,
tnouth; {v. 12.) he indulges himself in all the gru
tifications of the carnal appetite, and takes an inor-
dinate complacency in them, as yielding the mosl
agreeable delights. That is the satisfaction which
he hides under his tongue, and rolls there, as the
most dainty delicate thing that can be: he keeps it
still within his mouth; (v. 13.) let him have that,
and he desires no more; he will never part with
that for the spiritual and di\jne pleasures of re-
ligion, which he has no relish of, nor affection for.
His keeping it still in his mouth, denotes both his
obstinate persisting in his sin, (he sjjares it when he
should kill and mortify it, and forsakes it not, but
holds it fast, and goes on frowardly in it,) and also
his re-acting of his sin, by revolving it, and remem-
bering it with pleasure^ as that adulterous woman,
(Ezek. xxiii. 19.) \sho muUiplied her ivhorcdoms by
calling to remembrance the days of her yonth; so
does this wicked man here. Or, his hiding it and
keeping it under his tongue denotes his industrious
concealment of his beloved lust: being a hypocrite,
that he may save the credit of his profession, he
has secret haunts of sin; but he who knows what is
in the heart, knows what is under the tongue too,
and will discover it shortly.

2. The love of the world and the wealth of it;
that is it in which he places his happiness, and
which therefore he sets his heart upon. See here,
(1.) How greedy he is of it, x>. 15. He has swal-
lowed down riches, as eagerly as ever a hungry
man swallowed down meat; and is still crying,
" Give, give." It is that which he desired; {v. 20.)
it was, in his eye, the best gift, and that which he
coveted earnestly. (2.) What pains he takes for
it; it is that which he laboured for, {v. 18.) not by
honest diligence in a lawful calling, but by an un-
wearied prosecution of all ways and methods, per
fas, per nefas — right or ivrong, to be rich. We.
must labour, not to be rich, (Prov. xxiii. 4. ) but to
be charitable, that toe may have to give, (Eph. i\-.
28.) not to spend. (3.) What great things he pro-
mises himself from it, intimated in the rivers, the
floods, the brooks of honey and butter; {y. 17.) h's
being disappointed of them supposes tliat he hfid
flattered himself with the hopes of them: he ex-
pected rivers of sensual delights.

3. Violence, and oppression, and injustice, to his
poor neighbours, xk 19. This was the sin of the
giants of the old world, and a sin that, as much as
any other, bnitgs God*s judgments upon nations and

93

JOB, XX.

f milies. It is charged upon this wicked man, (1.)
That he has forsaken tlie poor, taken no care of
them, showed no kindness to them, nor made any
pro\ ision for them. At first, perhaps, for a pre-
tence, he gave alms like the Pharisees, to gain a
reputation; but, when he had served his turn with
it, he left it oflF, and forsook the poor, whom before
he seemed to be concerned for. Those who do
good, but not from a good principle, though they
may abound in it, will not abide in it. (2. ) That
he has oppressed them, crushed them, taken all
advantages against them to do them a mischief: to
enrich himself, he has made the poor poorer. (3.)
Tlidt he has violently taken away their houses, which
he liad no right to, as Ahab took Naboth's vineyard,
not by secret fraud, by forgery, perjury, or some
trick in law, but avowedly, and by open violence.
11. What his punishment is, for this wickedness.

1. He shall be disappointed in his expectations,
and shall not find that satisfaction in his worldly
wealth which he vainly promised himself; {v. 17.)
He shall never see (he rivers, the Jloods, the brooks
of honey and butter, with which he hoped to glut
himself. The world is not that to those who love
it, and court it, and admire it, which they fancy it
will be. The enjoyment sinks far below the raised
expectation.

2. He shall be diseased and distempered in his
body; and how little comfort a man has in riches,
if he has not health ! Sickness and pain, especially
if they be in extremity, imbitter all his enjoyments.
This wicked man has all the delights of sense
wound up to the height of pleasurableness; but
what real happiness can he enjoy, when his bones
are full of the sins of his youth, {v. 11.) that is, of
the effects of those sins? By his drunkenness and
gluttony, his uncleanness and wantonness, when he
was young, he contracted those diseases which are
painful to him long after, and, perhaps, make his
life very miserable, and, as Solomon speaks, con-
sume his flesh and his body, Prov. v. 11. Perhaps
he was given to fight when he was young, and then
made nothing of a cut or a bruise in a fray; but he
feels it in his bones long after. But can he get no
ease, m relief? No, he is likely to carry his pains
and diseases with him to the grave, or rather, they
are likely to carry him thitlier, and so the sins of his
youth shall tie down with him in the dust: the very
putrifying of his body in the grave is to him the
effect of sin; (c//. xxiV. 19.) so that his iniquity is
upon his bones there, Ezek. xxxii. 27. The sin
of sinners fvillows them to the other side death;

3. He shall be disquieted and troubled in his
mind; Surely he shall not f el (/uietness in hut belly,
V. 20. He has not that ease in his own mind that
pe-'ple think he has, but is in continual agitation.
The ill-gotten wealth which he has swallowed
down, makes him sick, and, like undigested meat, is
always upbraiding him. Let none expect to enjoy
that 'comfortably which they have gotten unjustly.
The unquietness of his mind arises, (1.) From his
conscience looking back, and filling him with the
fear of the wrath of God against him, for his wick-
edness. Even that wickedness which was sweet in
the commission, and was rolled under the tongue as
a delicate morsel, becomes bitter in the reflection,
and, when it is reviewed, fills him with horror and
vexation. In his bowels, it is turned, {v. 14. ) like
John's book; in his mouth as sweet as honey, but,
when he had eaten it, his belly was bitter, Rev, x.
10. Such a thing is sin; it is turned into the gall
of asi^s, than which notliing is more bitter, the poi-
son of asps, (i'. 16.) than which nothing more fatal,
aiTid so it will be to him; what he sucked so sweetly,
awd with so mucli i)leasnre, will prove to him the
p'lis'^iii of asps; so will all unlawful gains be. The
t.w.iljy^ tongue will prove the >iper's tongue. All

the charming giaces that are thought to be in sin,
when conscience is awakened, wi.l turn into sc
many raging furies. (2.) From his cares looking
forward, v. 22. In the fulness of his sufficiency,
when he thinks himself most h^ppy, and most sure
of the continuance of his h..ppiuess, he shall be in
straits, that is, he shall think himself so, through
the anxieties and perplexities of his own mind, as
that rich man who, when his ground brought forth
plentifully, cried out, what shall I do? Luke xii. 17.
4. He shall be dispossessed of his estate; that
shall sink and dwindle away to nothing, so that he
shall not rejoice therein, v,. 18. He shall not cnly
never rejoice truly, but not long rejiice at all.

(1.) What he has unjustly swallowed, he shall
be compelled to disgorge; {v. 15.) He swallowcc'
down riches, and then thought himself sure of
them, and that they were as much his own as the
meat he has eaten, but he is deceived, he shall
vomit them up again; his own conscience perhaps
may make him so uneasy in tlie keeping of what ne
has gotten, that, for the quiet of his own mind, he
shall make restitution, and that not with the plea-
sure of a virtue, but the pain of a vomit, and with
the utmost reluctancy. Or, if he do not himself re-
fund what he has violently taken away, God shall,
by his providence, force him to it, and bring it about,
one way or other, that ill-gotten goods shall return
to the right owners. God shall cast them out of his
belly, while yet the love of the sin is not cast out
of his heart. So loud shall the clamours of the poor,
whom he has impoverished, be against him, that
he shall be forced to send his children to them, to
sooth them, and beg their pardon; {y. 10.) His
children shall seek to please the fioor, while his own
hands shall restore them their goods with shame,
V. 18. That which he laboured for, by all the art?
of oppression, shall he restore, and shall not sc
swallow it down as to digest it; it shall not stay
with him, but according to his sham'e shall the re-
stitution be; having gotten a great deal unjustly,
he shall restore a great deal, so that when every
one has his own, he will have but a little left for
himself. To be made to restore what was unjustly
gotten, by the sanctifying grace of God, as Zaccheus
was, is a great mercy; he voluntarily and cheerfully
restored four-fold, and yet had a great deal left to
give to the poor, Luke xix. 8. But to be forced to
restore, as Judas was, merely by the horrors of a
despairing conscience, has none of that benefit and
comfort attending it, for he threw down the pieces
of silver, and went and hanged himself

(2. ) He shall be stripped of all he has, and be-
come a beggar. He that spoiled others, shall him-
self be spoiled; (Isa. xxxiii. 1.) for every hayid of
the wicked shall be upon him. The innocent, whom
he has wronged, sit down by their loss, saying, as
David, Wickedness proceedeth from thevjicked,but
my hand shall not be upon him, 1 Sam. xxiv. 13.
But though they have forgiven him, though they
will make no reprisals, divine justice will, and often
makes the wicked to avenge the 'quarrel of the
righteous, ;ind squeezes and crushes one bad man
bv the hand of another upon him. Thus when he
is plucked on iill sides, he shall not save of that
which he desired; (i'. 20.) not only he shall not
save it all, but he shall save nothing of it. There
shall none of his meat (which he coveted so much,
and fed upon with so much pleasure) be left, t. 21.
All his neighbours and relations shall look upon
him to be in such bad circumstances, that, when he
is dead, no man shall look for his goods, none of his
k iidrcd shall expect to be a ])enny the l)etter for
him, nor be willing to take out letters of adminis-
tration for what he leaves behind him. In i'' this
Zophar reflects upon Job, who had lost aV, a •'' was
reduced to the last extremity.

JOB, XX.

99

23. Tf'icen ne is about to fill his belly, God
shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him,
and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
'■24. He shall flee from the iron weapon, aiid
the bow of steel shall strike hirii through.

25. It is drawn, and cometh out of the
body ; yea, the glittering sword cometh out
of his gall : terrors are upon him. 26. All
darkness shall be hid in his secret places; a
fire not blown out shall consume him; it
shall go ill with him that is left in his taber-
nacle. 27. Tiie heaven shall reveal his ini-
quity; and the earth shall rise up against
him. 28. The increase of his house shall
depart, and Ins goods shall flow away in the
day of his wrath. 29. This is the portion of
a wicked man from God, and the heritage
appointed unto him by God.

Zophar, ha\ing described the many embaiTass-
ments and vexations which commonly attend the
■wicked practices of oppressors and cruel men, here
comes to show their utter ruin at last.

1. Their ruin will take its rise from God's wrath
and \engeance, f. 23. The hand of the wicked
was upon him; {v. 22.) e\ ery hand of the wicked.
His hand was against every one, and therefore e\ery
man's hand will be against him — yet, in grappling
with these, he might go near to make his part
good; but his he irt cannot endure, nor his hands
be strong, when God shall deal with him, (Ezek.
xxii. 14. ) when God shall cast the fury of his wrath
upon him, and rnin it upon him. Every word here
speaks terror. It is not only the justice of God,
that is engaged against him, but his wrath, the deep
resentment of provocations gi> en to himself: it is
the fury of his vjrath, incensed to the highest de-
gree; it is cast upon him with force and fierceness;
it is rained upon him in abundance; it comes on his
head like the fire and brimstone upon Sodom, to
which the psilmist also refers, (Ps. xi. 6.) On the
ivicked God shall rain fire and brimstone. There
is no fence against this, but in Christ, who is the
only Covert from the storm and tempest, Isa. xxxii.
2. This wr ith shall be cast upon him, when he is
about to fill his belly, just going to glut himself with
what he has gotten, and promising himself abun-
dant satisfaction in it. Then, when he is eating,
shall tliis tempest surprise him, when he is secure
and easy, and in apprehension of no danger; as the
ruin of the old world and Sodom came, when they
were jn the depth of their security, and the height
of their sensuality, as Christ observes, Luke xvii.

26, Sec. Perhaps Zophar here reflects on the death
of Job's children, when they were eating and drinking.

2. Their ruin will be inevitable, and there will
be no possibility of escaping it; (i;. 24.) He shall
flee from the iron weapon. Flight argues guilt: he
will not humble himself under the judgments of
God, nor seek means to make his peace with him;
all his care is to escape the vengeance that pursues
him, but in vain: if he escape the sword, yet the
bow of steel shall strike him through. God has
weapons of all sorts, he has both whet his sword,
and bent his bow; (Ps. vii. 12, 13.) he can deal with
his enemies cominns or eminus — at hand or afar
off. He has a sword for those that think to fight it
out with him by their strength, and a bow for those
that think to avoid him bv their craft. See Isaiah
x\iv. 17, 18. Jer. xlviii. 43, 44. He that is mark-
ed for ruin, though he may escape one judgment,
will find another ready for him.

3. It will be a total, terrible, ruin. When thi-
dart that has sti-uck him through, (for when Ci<.(i
shoots, he is sure to hit his mark, when he strikes,
he strikes home,) comes to be drawn out of his body,
when the glittering sword, (the lightning, so the
word is,) the flaming sword, the sword that is bath-
ed in heaven, (Isa. xxxiv. 5.) when this comes out
of his gall, O what terrors are upon him! How-
strong are the convulsions, how violent are the d)'-
ing agonies! How terrible are the arrests of deatli
to a wicked man!

4. Sometimes it i,s a ruin that comes upon him
insensibly, -v. 26. (1.) The darkness he is wrap-
ped up in, is a hidden darkness: it is all darkness,
utter darkness, without the least mixture of light,
and it is hid in his secret place, whither he is re-
treated, and where he hopes to shelter himself; he
never retires into his own conscience, but he finds
himself in the dark, and utterly at a loss. (2.) The
fire he is consumed by is a fire not blown, kindled
without noise, a consumption which every body
sees the effect of, but nobody sees the cause of; it is
jjlain that the gourd is withered, but the worm at
the root, that causes it to wither, is out of sight.
He is wasted by a soft gentle fire; surely, but very
slowly. When the fuel is very combustible, the
fire needs no blowing, and that is his case; he is
ripe for ruin; the firoud, and they that do wickedly,
shall be stubble, Mai. iv. 1. An vniquenchable fire
shall consume him, so some read it; and that is cer-
tainly true of hell-fire.

5. It is a ruin, not only to himself, but to his fa-
mily; It shall go ill with him that is left in his taber-
nacle, for the curse shall reach him, and he shall
be cut off perhaps by the same grievous disease;
there is an entail of wrath upon the family, which
will destroy both his heirs and his inheritance, v.
28. (1.) His posterity will be rooted out. The
increase of his house shall depart; shall either be
cut off" by untimely deaths, or forced to run their
country. Numerous and growing families, if wick-
ed and vile, are soon reduced, dispersed, and extir-
pated, by the judgments of God. (2.) His estate
will be sunk. His goods shall flow away from his
family as fast as ever they flowed in to it, when the
day of God's wrath comes, for which, all the while
his estate was in the getting by fraud and oppression,
he was treasuring up wrath.

6. It is a ruin which will manifestly appear to
be just and righteous, and what he has brought
upon himself by his own wickedness; for, (x'. 27.)
the heaven shall reveal his iniquity, that is, the God
of heaven, who sees all the secret wickedness of the
wicked, will, by some means or other, let all the
world know what a base man he has been, that
they may own the justice of God in all that is
brought upon him. The earth also shall rise up
against him, both to discover his wickedness, and
to avenge it. The earth shall disclose her blood,
Isa. xxvi. 21. The earth rises'vfi agai7ist him, (as
the stomach rises against that which is loathsome,)
and will no longer keep him : the Heaven reveals
his iniquity, and therefore will not receive him:
whither then must he go but to hell? If the God
of heaven and earth be his enemy, neither heaven
nor earth will show him any kindness, but all the
hosts of both are, and will be, at war with him.

Lastly, Zophar concludes like an orator; {v. 29. )
This is the portion of a wicked man from God; it is
allotted him, it is designed him as his portion. He
will ha\e it at last, as a child hr-.s his portion, and
he will have it for a perpetuitv, it is what he must
abide by: this is the heritage of his decree from God;
it is the settled rule of his judgment, and fair warn ■
ing is given of it. O wicked man, thou shalt surelh
die! Ezek. xxxiii. 8. Though impenitent sinners
do not always fall under such temporal judgments

100

JOB, XXI.

is are here described, (therein Zophar was mis-
taken,) yet the wrath of God abides upon them,
and they are made miserable by spiritual judg-
ments, which are much worse, their consciences
being either, on the one hand, a terror to them, and
tlien they are in continual amazement, or, on the
.ither hand, seared and silenced, and then they are
gi\ en up to a reprobate sense, and bound over to
eternal ruin. Never was any doctrine better ex-
plained, or worse applied, than this by Zophar, who
intended by all this to prove Job a hypocrite. Let
us receive the good explication, and make a better
ff/iplication, for warning to ourselves, to stand in
awe, and not to sin.

CHAP. XXI.

This is Job's reply lo Zophar's discourse ; in which he
complains less of his own miseries than he had done in
his former discourses, (finding that his friends were not
moved by his complaints, lo pity him in the least,) and
comes closer to the general question that was in dispute
betwixt him and them, AVhelher outward prosperity, and
the continuance of it, were a mark of the true church,
and the true members of it, so that the ruin of a man's
prosperity is sufficient to prove him a hypocrite, though
no other evidence appear against him: this they asserted,
but Job denied. 1. His preface here is designed for
the moving of their affections, that he might gain their
attention, v. 1 . .6. II. His discourse is designed for the
convincing of their judgments, and the rectifying of their
mistakes. He owns that God does sometimes hang up
a wicked man as it were in chains, tji lerrorem — as a
terror lo others, by some visible remarkable judgment in
this life, but denies that he always does so ; nay, he
maintains that commonly he does otherwise, suffering
even the worst of sinners to live all their days in pros-
perity, and to go out of the world without any visible
mark of his wrath upon them. I. He describes the
great prosperity of wicked people, v. 7.. 13. 2. He
shows their great impiety, in which they are har-
dened by their prosperity, v. 14.. 16. 3. He foretells
their ruin, at length, but afler a long reprieve, v. 17. .21.
4. He observes a very great variety in the ways of God's
providence toward men, ej-en toward bad men, v. 22 . , 26.
5.' He overthrows the ground of tFieir severe censures of
him, by showing that destruction is reserved for the other
world, and that the wicked often escape to the last in
this world, v. 27. to the end. In this, Job was clearly in
the right.

1 . XI UT Job answered and said, 2. Hear

XJ diligently nfiy speech ; and let this
be your consolations. 3. Suffer me that I
may speak ; and after that I have spoken,
•nock on. 4. As for me, is my complaint
to man ? and if it ivere so, why should not
my spirit be troubled ? 5. Mark me, and
be astonished, and lay 7/our haivl upon 7/our
mouth. 6. Even when I remember I am
afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my
flesh.

Job here recommends himself, both his case and
his discourse, both what he suflFered, and what he
said, to the compassionate consideration of his
friends.

1. That which he entreats of them is very fair,
that they would suffer him to speak, {v. 3. ) and not
break' in upon him, as Zophar had done, in the
midst of his discourse. Losers, of all men, may
have leave to speak; and if those that are accused
and censured may not speak for themselves, they
are wronged witiinut remedy, and have no way to
come at tlieir right. He entreats that they would
hear diligently his s])eech, {v. 2. ) as those that were
willing to understand h.m, and, if they were under
a mistake, to have it rectified; and that they would
rnaj-k him; {v. 5.) for we may as well not hear as
'jot heed and observe what we hear.

? That which he urges for this is very reason-

I able. (1.) They came to comfort him; "Nov.,"

[ says he, "/er t/iin be your c-jnuolations; (v. 2. , if

you ha\ e no other comforts to administer to i..t,

yet deny me not this; be so kind, so just, as to t,ive

me a patient hearing, and that shall pass for your

I consolations. " Nay, they could not know how to

! comfort him, if they would not give him leave to

! open his case, and tell his own stt.ry. Or, " It will

be a consol iti.in to yourselves, in the reflection, to

have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend, and

not harshly."

(2.) He would hear them speak, when it came
to t'leir turn. " After I have spoken, yni may go on
■with what you have to say, nnd I will not hinder
you, though you go on to mock me." Thobe that
engage in comro\ ersy, must count upon ha\ ing hard
words gi\en tliem, and res( Ive to bear it p.itienUy;
for, generally, they that mock, will mock on, w!t,it-
ever is said to them.

(3.) He hoped tocoinince them; " If you will but
give me a fair hearing, mock on if you can, but I
believe I shall say that which will change your note,
and make you pity me, rather than mock nie."

(4.) They were not his judges; (t. 4.) "In my
comfilaint to man? No, if it were, I see it would
be to little purpose to complain. But my complaint
is to God, and to him do I appeal. Let him be
Judge between you and me! Before him we stand
upon even terms, and therefore I have the privi-
lege of being heard as well as you. If my complaint
were to men, my spirit would be troubled, for they
would not regard me, nor rightly understand me;
but my complaint is to God, wlio will suffer me to
speak, though you will not." It wtaild be sad iH
(iod should deal as unkindly with us as our fiiendsl
sometimes do.

(5.) There was that in his case, which was very
surprising and astonishing, and therefore l)oth need-
ed and deserved tlieir most serious consideration.
It was not a common case, but a very extraordinary
one.

[1.] He himself was amazed at it, at the trou-
bles God had laid u])on him, and the censures of
his friends concerning him; (7». 6.) " ]\'hen I re-
member th^Lt terrible day, in which I was on a sud-
den stripped of all my comforts, that day in which
I was stricken with sore boils; when I remember
all the hard speeches with which you ha^ c grieved
me, I confess I am afraid, and trembling takes hold
of my flesh, especially when I compare this with
the prosperous condition of many wicked people,
and the applauses of their neighbours, with which
they pass through the world." Note, The provi-
dences of God, in the government of the world, are
sometimes very astonishing, even to wise and good
men, and bring them to their wit's end.

[2.] He would have them wonder at it; {v. 5.)
"Mark me, and be astonished. Instead of expound-
ing my troubles, you should awfully adore the \\n ■
searchable mysteries of Providence in afflicting on»
thus, of whom you know no evil; you should t'ere
fore lay your hand ufton your mouth; silently v/ait
the issue, and judge nothing before the time."
God's way is in the sea, and his jiath in the great
waters. When we cannot account for what he d es,
in suflTering the wicked to pros])er, and the gndly
to be afflicted, nor fathom the deptli (^f those pro
ceedings, it becomes us to sit down and adniirt
them. U/iright men shall be astonished at this, ch.
xvii. 8. Be you so.

7. \^^lercfore do the wicked live, become
old, yea, are mighty in po\yer ? 8. Thoii
seed is established in their sight with them,
and their offspring before their ey.'s. 0
Their honses are safe from fear, nc-itlur is

JOB, XXL

Ol

the rod of God upon them. 10. Their bull
^(^ndereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth,
and casteth not her calf. 11. They send
Ibrth their little ones like a flock, and their
children dance. 12. They take the timbrel
and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the or-
^an 1 3. They spend their days in wealth,
an. I in a moment go down to the grave. 1 4.
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from
us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy
ways. 15. What ^5 the Almighty, that we
s'lould serve him ? and what profit should
we have, if we pray unto him? 16. Lo,
their good is'not in their hand : the counsel
of the wicked is far from me.

All Job's three friends, in their last discourses,
had been very large in describing the miserable
condition of a wicked nnan in this world; " It is
true," says Job, " remarkable judgnrients are some-
times brought upon notorious sinners, but not al-
ways; for we have many instances of the great and
lung prosperity of those that are openly and avow-
ed: y wicked; though they are liardened in their
wickedness by their prosperity, yet they are still
buffered to prosper."

I. He here describes their prosperity, to the
height, and breadth, and length, of it. '• If this be
true, as you say, pray tell me wherefore do the wick-
ed live?" V. 7. The matter of fact is taken for grant-
ed, for we see instances of it every day. 1. They live,
and are not suddenly cut off by the strokes of divine
vengeance. They yet speak, who have set their
mouths against the heavens. Theyyetact, whohave
stretched out their hands against God. Not only they
live, that is, they are reprieved, but they live in pros-
fin-inj. 1 Sam. xxv. 6. Nay, 2. They become old,
they have the honour, satisfaction, and advantage,
of living long, time enough to raise their families
and estates. We read of a sinner a hundred years
old, Isa. Ixv. 20. But this is not all. 3. They are
m ghty in power, are preferred to places of autho-
rity and trust, and not only make a great figure,
hut betr a great sway. Vivit imo, et in senatum
-I'fnif — He not only lives, but walks into the senate-
hodfte. Now wherefore is it so.'' Note, It is worth
wh le to inquire into the reasons of the outward pros-
perity f'f wicked people. It is not because God has
f rsaken the earth, because he does not see, or does
iiot hate, or cannot punish, their wickedness; but
it s because the measure of their iniquities is not
full. This is the day of God's patience, and in some
\v y or other he makes use of them, and their pros-
perity, to serve his own counsels, while it ripens
ihrm for ruin; but the chief reason is, because he
w 11 make it to appear there is another world,
wivch is the world of retribution, and not this.

The prosperity of the wicked is here described
t''^ he,

(1.) Complete and consummate. [1.] They are
multiplied, and their family is built up, and thev
have the satisfaction of seeing it; {y. 8.) Their seed
;> -stahlis/ied in their sight. This is put first, as that
which gives both a pleasant enjoyment, andapleas-
ina- pospect. [2.] They are easy and quiet, v. 9.
^Vheieas Zophar had spoken of their continual
fritrhts and terrors. Job siys. Their houses are safe,
both from danger and from the fear of it; (y. 9. ) and
so fir are they from the killing wounds of God's
sword or arrows, that they do not feel the smart of
so much as (he rod of God upon them. [3.] They
are rich, and thrive in their estates; of this he gives
only one instance, v. 10. Their cattle increase,

and they meet with no disappointment in them; not
so much as a cow casts her calf, and then their
much must needs grow more. This is promised,
Exod. xxiii. 26. Deut. vii. 14. [4.] They are mer-
ry, and live a jovial life; {v. 11, 12.) They semi
forth their little ones abroad among their neigh
bours, like a flock, in great numbers, to sport them
selves. They have their balls and music-meeting?,
at which their children dance; and dancing is fitti. tt
for children, who know not better how to sper.d
their time, and whose innocency guards them
against the mischiefs that commonly attend it.
Though the parents are not so very youthful and
frolicsome as to dance themselves, yet they t.;ke
the timbrel and harp; they pipe, and their children
dance after their pipe, and they know no gref to
put their instruments out of tune, or to withhold
their hearts from any joy. Some observe that th s
is an instance of their vanity, as well as of their
prosperity. Here is none of that care taken of the r
children.'which Abraham took of his, to ^eacA them
the way of the Lord, Gen. xviii. 19. Their chil-
dren do not pray, or say their catechism, but dance,
and sing, and rejoice at the sound of the orgur.
Sensual pleasures are all the delights of carnal peo-
ple; and as men are themselves, so they breed their
children.

(2.) Continuing and constant; {v. 13.) They
spend their days, all their days, in wealth, and ne-
ver know what it is to want; in mirth, and neA er
know what sadness means; and at last, without any
previous alarms to frighten them, without any an-
guish, or agony, in a moment they go down to the
grave, and there are no bands in their death. If
there were not another life after this, it were most
desirable to die by the quickest, shortest strt kes i f
death. Since we must go down to the grave, it
that were the furthest of our journey, we wi uhi
wish to go down in a moment, to swallow the I);;-
ter pill, and not chew it.

II. He shows how they abuse their prosperity,
and are confirmed and hardened by it in their im-
piety, v. 14, 15. Their gold and silver serve to
steel them, to make them more insolent, and mere
impudent, in their wickedness. Now he mentions
this, either, 1. To increase the difficulty. It is
strange that any wicked people should prosper thus,
but especially that those should prosper, who are
arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as openly to
bid defiance to God himself, and tell him to his face
that they care not for him: nay, and that their pros-
perity should be continued, though they bear up
themselves upon that, in their opposition to God;
with that weapon they fight against him, and yet
are not disarmed. Or, 2. To lessen the difficulty.
God suffers them to prosper; but let us not wonder
at it, for the prosperity of fools destroys them, by
hardening them in sin, Prov. i. 32. Ps. Ixxiii. 7* '9.
See how light these prospering sinners make rf
God and religion, as if, because they have so much
of this world, they had no need to look after an-
other.

(1.) See how ill affected they are to God and re-
ligion; thev abandon them, and cast off the thoughts
of them. [1-] They dread the presence of God,
they say unto him, *' Depart from us, let us never
be troubled with the apprehension of our being un-
der God's eye, nor be restrained by the fear rf
him." Or, They bid him depart, as one they do
not need, nor have any occasion to make use rf.
The world is the portion they have chosen, and
take up with, and think themselves happy in; while
they ha\e that, they can live without God. Justly
will God say to them, Depart, (Matth. xxv. 41.)
who have bid him depart; justly does he now take
them at their word. [2.] Thev dread the know-
ledge of God, and of his will, and of their duty to

102

JOB, XXI.

him; We desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
They that are resolved not to walk in God's ways,
desire not to know them, because tlieir knowledge
will be a continual reproach to their disobedience,
John iii. 19.

(2.) See how they argue against God and reli-
gion; {y. 15.) What is the Almighty? Strange, that
ever creatures should speak so insolently, that ever
reasonable creatures should speak so absurdly and
unreasonably. The two great bonds by which we
are drawn and held to religion, are those of duty
and interest; now they here endea\ our to break
both these bonds asunder. [1.] They will not be-
lieve it is their duty to be religious. What is the
4lmighty, that we should serve him? Like Pharaoh,
(Exod. V, 2.) Who is the Lord, that I should obey
his voice? Observe how slightly they speak of God;
What is the Almighty? As if he were a mere name,
a mere cypher, or one they have nothing to do with,
and that has nothing to do with them. How hardly
they speak of religion! They call it aservia-, and
mean a hard service. Is it not enc.ugh, they think,
t > keep up a fair correspondence with the Almighty,
but they nmst serve him, which they look upon as
u task and drudgery. Observe also how highly they
speak of themselves; "jyiat we should serve hmi:
we, who are rich and mighty in power, shall we be
subject and accountable to himi* No, we are Lords,"
Jer. ii. .31. [2.] They will not believe it is tlieir
interest to be religious; What projit shall we have
if we pray unto him? All the world are for what
thev can get, and therefore wisdom's merchandise
is neglected, because they think there is nothing to
be g it by it; It is vain to serve God, Mai. iii. 13, 14.
Praying will not pay debts, nor portion children;
nay, perhaps serious godliness may hinder a man's
preferment, and expose him to losses; and what
then^ Is nothing to be called gain but the wealth
and honour of this world.!* If we obtain the favour
of God, and spiritual and eternal blessings, we have
no reason to complain of losing by our religion. But
if we have not profit by prayer, it is our own fault,
(Isa. Iviii. 3, 4.) it is because we ask amiss. Jam.
iv. 3. Religion itself is not a vain thing; if it be so
to us, we may thank ourselves for resting in the
outside of it. Jam. i. 26.

III. He shows their folly herein, and utterly dis-
claims all concurrence with them; {v. 19.) Lo,
their good is not in their hand, that is. They did not
get it without God, and therefore they are very un-
grateful to slight him thus: it was not their might,
nor the power of their hand, that got them this
wealth, and therefore they ought to remember God
who gave it them. Nor can they keep it without
God, and therefore they are very unwise to lose
tlieir interest in him, and bid him to depart from
them. Some give this sense of it; "Their good is
in their barns and their bags, hoarded up there; it
:S not in their hand, to do good to others with it;
and then, what good does it do them?" "There-
fore," says Job, ''the counsel of the wicked is far
from me. Far l)e it from me tluit I should be of
their mind, s ly as they s^y. do as they do, and take
my measures from them. Their posterity ap-
prove their sayings, though their way be their
folly i (Ps. xlix. 13.) but I know better things than
to walk in their counsel."

17. How oft is llio candle of the wicked
put out? and hovj oft cometli their destruc-
tion upon them? God distrihuteth sorrows
In liis anger. 1 8. They are as stubhle be-
fore the wind, and as chaff that the storm
carrieth away. 19. God layeth up his ini-
quity for his children: he rewardeth him.

and he shall know it. 20. His eyes shall
see his destruction, and he shall drink of
the wrath of the Almighty. 21. For what
pleasure hath he in his house after him,
when the number of his months is cut off
in the midst? 22. Shall any teach God
knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that
are high. 23. One dieth in his full strength,
being wholly at ease and cjuiet : 24. His
breasts are full of milk, and his bones are
moistened with marrow. 25. And anothei
dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never
eateth with pleasure. 26. TUey shall lie
down alike in the dust, and the worms shall
cover them.

Job had largely desciibed the prosperity of wick,
ed people; now, in these verses,

I. He opposes this to what his friends had main
tained concerning their certain ruin in this life.
"Tell me how often do you see the candle of the
wicked put out. Do ycu not as often see it burn
down to the socket, until it goes out of itself? v. 17.
How often do you see their destruction con>e upon
them, or God distributing sorrows in his anger
among themi' Do you not as often see their mirth
and prosperity continuing to the last?" Perhaps
there are as many instances of notorious sinners
ending their days in pomp, as ending them in mise-
ry; which observation is sufficient to invalidate
their arguments against Job, and to show that no
certain judgment can be made of men's character
by their outward condition.

II. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice
of God; though wicked people pr< sper thus all
their days, yet we are not theref<n-e to think th.it
God will let their wickedness always go unpunish-
ed. No,

1. Even while they prosper thus, they are as
stubble and chaff before the stormy wind, v. 18.
They are light and worthless, and of no account
either with God, or with wise and good men. They
are fitted to destruction, and continually lie exposed
to it; and, in the height of tlieir pomp and power,
there is but a step between them and ruin.

2. Though they spend all their days in wealth,
God is laying up their iniquity for their children,
{v. 19.) and he will visit it upon their postei-ity
when they are gone. The oppressor lays up his
goods for his children, to make them gentlemen,
but God lays up his iniquity for them, to make
them beggars: he keeps an exact account of the fa-
thers' sins; seals them up among his trrasurrs,
(Deut. xxxii. 34.) and will justly punish the chil-
dren, while the riches, to which the curse cleaves,
are found as assets in their hands.

3. Though they prosper in this woMd, yet they
shall be reckoned with in another world. Ciod re-
wards him according to his deeds at last, {v. 19.)
though tlie sentence passed against his evil works
be not executed si)eedily. Perhaps he may not now
be made to fear the wrath to come, but he may
flatter himself with hopes that he shall have peace,
tlwough he go on; but he shall be made to feel it ii.
the day of the revelation of the riftliteous judgment
of God. He shall know it; {v. 19.) His eyes shall
see his destruction, which he would not be persn;idcd
to believe. They will not see, but they shall see,
Isa. xxvi. 11. The eyes that have been wilfully
shut against tlie grace of Ciod, shall he o])ened to
see his destruction. He shall drink of the wrath of
the Almighty; that shall he the portion rf his cup.
Compare Ps. xi. 6. with Rev. xi\'. 10. The misery

JOB, XXI.

103

of damned sinners is here set forth in a few words,
but they are very terrible ones: they he under the
wrath of an Almigh ly God, who, in their desti'uc-
tion, both shows his wrath, and makes known his
power.

If this will be his condition in the other world,
what good will his prosperity in this world do him?
(y. 21.) What pleasure has he in his house after
him? Our Saviour has let us know how little plea-
sure the rich man in hell had in his house after him,
when the remembrance of the good things he had
received in his life-time, would not cool his tongue,
but added much to his misery, as did also the sor-
row he was in, lest his five brethren, whom he left
in his house after him, should follow him to that
place of torment, Luke xvi. 25- -28. So little will
the gain of the world profit him that has lost his soul.

Ili. He resolves this difference, which Providence
makes between one wicked man and another, into the
wisdom and sovereignty of (iod; {v. 22.) Shall any
tiretend to teach God knowledge? Dare we arraign
God's proceedings, or blame his conduct? Shall we
take upon us to tell God how he should govern the
world, what sinner he should spare, and what he
should punish? He has both authority and ability
to judge those that are high. Angels in heaven,
princes and magistrates on earth, are accountable
to God, and must receive their doom from him;
he manages them, and makes what use he pleases
of them: shall he then be accountable to us, or re-
ceive advice from us? He is the Judge of all the
earth, and tlierefore, no doubt, he shall do right,
(Gen. xviii. 25. Rom. iii. 6.) and those prf ceedings
of his providence which seem to contradict one
another, he can make, not only mutually to agree,
but iointly to serve his own purposes.

The little difference there is between one wicked
man's dying impenitent in peace and pomp, and
another wicked man's dying so in pain and misery,
when both will, at Jast, meet in hell, he illustrates
by the little difference there is between one man's
dying suddenly and another's dying slowly, when
they will both meet shortly in the grave. So \ ast
is the disproportion between time and eternity, that,
if hell be the fot of every sinner at last, it makes
little difference, if one goes singing thither, and
another sighing. See,

1. How various the circumstances of people's
dying are. There is one way into the world, we
say, but many f^ut; yet, as some are born by quick
and easy labour, others by that which is hard and
lingering, so dying is to some much more terrible
than to others; and, since the death of the body is
the birth of the soul into another world, death-bed
agonies may not unfitly be compared to child-bed
tliroes. Observe the difference.

(1.) One dies suddenly, in his full strength, not
weakened by age or sickness, {v. 23.) being wholly
at ease and quiet, under no apprehension at all of
the approach of death, nor in any fear of it; but,
on the contrary, because his breasts are full of milk,
and his bones moistened with marrow, {v. 24.) that
is, he is healthful and vigorous, and of a good con-
stitution, (like a milch-cow that is fat and in good
liking,) he counts upon nothing but to live many
years in mirth and pleasure. Thus fair does he bid
For life, and yet he is cut off in a moment by the
stroke of death. Note, It is a common thing for
persons to be taken away by death when they are
in tlieir full strength, in the highest degree of health,
when they least expect death, and think themselves
best armed against it, and are ready not only to set
death at a distance, but to set it at defiance. Let us
therefore never be secure; for we have known
many well and dead in the same week, the same
day, the same hour, nay, perhaps, the same minute,
Let us therefore be always ready

(2. ) Another dies slowly, and with a great deal
of previous pain and misery, (t. 2j.) In the bitter-
ness of his soul, such as poor Job was himself now
in, and never eats with pleasure, has no appetite to
his food, nor any relish of it, through sickness, or
age, or sorrow ot' mind. What great reason ha\e
those to be thankful, that are in health, and alvva\s
eat with pleasure! And what little reason have
they to complain, who sometimes do not eat thus
when they hear of many that never do!

2. How undiscernible this difference is in the
grave: as rich and poor, so healthful and unhealtli-
ful, meet there; {v. 26.) 7'heij shall lie donvn ali^e
in the dunt, and the worms shall cover them, and
feed sweetly en them. Thus, if one wicked man
die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, they will
meet in the congregation of the dead and damned,
and the worm that dies not, and the fire that is n(X
quenched, will be the same to them, which makes
those differences inconsiderable, and not wortli pei-
plexing ourseh es about.

27. Behoid, I know your thoughts, and
the devices which ye wrongfully iniagino
against me. 28. For ye say, Where is the
house of the prince? and where are the
dwelling-places of the wicked? 29. Have
ye not asked them that go by the way ? and
do ye not know their tokens, 30. That
the wicked is reserved to the day of de
struction ? they shall be brought forth lo
the day of wrath. 31. Who shall declare
his way to his face? and who shall repa}-
him what he hath done ? 32. Yet shall hv
be brought to the grave, and shall remain
in the tomb. 33. The clods of the valK^}'
shall be sweet unto him, and every nidn
shall draw after him, as there are innume-
rable before him. 34. How then comfort
ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there
remaineth falsehood ?

In these \ erses,

I. Job opposes the opinion of his friends, which
he saw they still adhered to, That the wicked are
sure to fall into such visible and remarkable ruin,
as Job was now fallen into, and none but the wicked;
upon which principle, they condemned Job as a
wicked man. "I know your thoughts," says Job,
{v. 27.) «' I know you will not agree with me; for
your judgments are tinctured and biassed by your
piques and prejudices against me, and the devices
which you wningfuUy imagine against my comfort
and honour: and how can such men be cf nvinced?"

Job's friends were ready to say, in answer to his
discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked,
" Where is the house of the prince?\v. 28.) Where
is Job's house, or the house of his eldest son, in
which his children were feasting: inquire into the
circumstances of Job's house and family, and then
ask. Where are the dzvelling-filaces of the wickid?
and compare them together, and you will soon see
that Job's house is in the same predicament with
the houses of tyrants and oppressors, and may
therefore conclude that doubtless he was such a
one."

II. He lays down his own judgment to the con-
trary, and, for proof of it, appeals to the sentiments
and observations of all mankind. So confident is he
that he is in the right, that he is willing to refer the
cause to the next man that comes by; (v. 29.)
" Have ye not asked them that go by the way — any

104

JOB, XXII.

indifferent pei*son, any that will answer jou? I say
not, as Eliphaz, (cA. v. 1.) To which of the Saints
— I ask, To which of the children of men, will you
turn? Turn to which you will, you will find them
all of my mind; that the punishment of sinners is
designed more for the other world than for this,
according to the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh
from Adam, Jude 14. Do you not know the tokens
of this truth, which all that have made any obser-
vations upon the providences of God concerning
mankind in this world, can furnish you with?"

Now what is it that Job here asserts? Two
things,

1. That impenitent sinners will certainly be
punished in the other world, and, usually, their
punishment is put off until then.

2. That therefore we are not to think it strange
if they prosper greatly in this world, and fall under
no visible token of God's wrath. Therefore they
are spared now, because they are to be punished
then; therefore the workers of iniquity flourish,
that they may be destroyed for ever, Ps. xcii. 7.
The sinner is here supposed,

(1.) To live in a great deal of power, so as to be
not only the terror of the mighty in the land of the
Irving, (Ezek. xxxii. 27.) but the terror of the
wise and good too, whom he keeps in such awe,
that none dares declare his way to his face, -v. 31.
None will take the liberty to I'eprove him, to tell
him of the wickedness ot his way, and what will
be in the end thereof; so that he sins securely, and
is not made to know either shame or fear. The
prosperity of fools destroys them, by setting them
(in their own conceit) above reproofs, by which
they might be brought to that repentance which
aloiie will prevent their ruin. Those are marked
for destruction that are let alone in sin, Hos. iv. 17.
And if none dares declare his way to his face, much
less dare any repay him what he has done, and
make him refund there where he has done wrong.
He is one of those great flies which break through
the cobwebs ot the law, that hold only the little
ones: this imboldens sinners in their sinful ways,
that they can brow-beat justice, and make it afraid
to meddle with them. But there is a day coming
when those shall be told of their faults, who now
would not bear to hear of them; shall have their
sins set in order before them, and their way de-
clared to their face, to their everlasting confusion,
who would not have it done here, to their convic-
tion; when those who would not repay the wrongs
thev had done, shall have them repaid to them.

('2.) To die, and be buried in a great deal of
])omp and magnificence, u. 52, 33. There is no
remedy; he must die; that is the lot of all men;
but every thing vou can think of shall be done to
t ;ke off the reproach of death. [1.] He shall have
a splendid funeral; a poor thing for any man to be
proud of the prospect of; yet with some it passes for
a mighty thhig: well, he shall be brought unto the
grave in state, surrounded with all the honours of
the Heralds' office, and all the respect his friends
can then pay to his remains: the rich man died, and
was burird, but no mention is made of the poor
man's burial, Luke xvi. 22. [2.] He shall have a
statelv monument erected over him, he shall re-
main in the tomb with a Hie jacet — Here lies, over
him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant
of the embalming of his body, to preserve it, which
was a piece of honour anciently done by the Egyp-
tians to their great men. He shall watch in the
tomb, so the word is, shall abide solitary and quiet
there, as a watchman in his tower. [3.^ The clods
of the vallei/ shall be sweet to him; there shall be
as much doiie as can be with rich odours, to take
tiff the noisomcness of the grave, as by lamps to set
ttside the darkness of it, which perhaps was refer-

red to in the foregoing phrase of watching in the
tomb: but it is all a jest; what is the light, or what
the perfume, to a man that is dead? [4. J It shall
be alleged, for the lessening of the disgrace of death,
that it is the common lot; he has only yielded to fate,
and every man shall draw after him, as there are in-
numerable before him. Note, Death is the way of all
the earth: when we are to cross that darksome %al-
ley, we must consider. First, That there are innu-
merable before us, it is a tracked road; which may
help to take off the terror of it. To die is ire ad
filures — to go to the great majority. Secondly,
That every man shall draw after us: as there is a
plain track before, so there is a long train behind;
we are neither the first, nor the last, that pass
through that dark entry. Every one must go in
his own order, the order appointed of God.

Lastly, From all this Job infers the impertinency
of their discourses, v. 34. 1. Their foundation is
rotten, and they went upon a wrong hypothesis;
"In your answers there remaineth falsehood; what
you have said, stands not only unproved but dis
proved, and lies under such an imputation of false
hood as you cannot clear it from." 2. Their build--
ing was therefore weak and tottering: "You com
fort me in vain. All you have said, gives me no
relief; you tell me that I shall prosper again, if I
turn to God, but you go upon this presumption,
that piety shall certainly be crowned with prospe-
rity, which is false; and therefore how can your in-
ference from it yield me any comfort''" Note,
Where there is not truth, there is little comfort to
be expected.

CHAP. XXII.

Eliphaz here leads on a third attack upon poor Job, in
which Bildad followed him, but Zophar drew back, and
quitted the field. It was one of the unhappinesses of Job,
as it is of many an honest man, to be misunderstood by
his friends. He had spoken of tWe prosperity of wicked
men in this world as a mystery of Providence, but they
took it for a reflection upon Providence, as countenancing
their wickedness; and they reproached him accordintrly.
In this chapter, I. Eliphaz checks him for his complain's
of God, and of his dealings with him, as if he thousjht
God had done him wron<r, v. 2.. 4. II. He charpes
him with many hifjh crimes and misdemeanors, for
which he supposes God was now punishinsr him. 1. Op-
pression and injustice, V. 5 .. 11. 2. Atheism and infi-
delity, v. 12.. 14. III. He compared his case to that
of the old world, V. 15.. 20. IV. He gives him very
pood counsel, assuring him thai, if he would take it,
God would return in mercy to him, and he should return
to his former prosperity, v. 21 . . 30.

l.rr^HEN Eliphaz the Temanite an-

1 swered and said, 2. Can a man be
profitable unto God, as he that is wise may
be profitable vinto himself? 3. h it any
pleasure to the Almighty that thou art
righteous? or is it gain to him tliat thou
makest thy ways perfect? 4. Will he re-
prove thee for fear of thee? will he enter
with thee into judgment?

Eliphaz here insinuates that, because Job com-
plained so much of his afHictions, he thought Ciod
was unjust in afflicting him; but it was a strained
innuendo. Job was far from thinking so. What
Eliphaz says here, is therefore unjustly applied to
Job, but in itself it is very true and good;

1. That when God does us good, it is not because
he is indebted to us; if he were, there might be
some colour to say, when he afflicts us, " He docs
not deal fairly with us:" but whoever pretends that
he has by any meritorious action made (Jod his
Debtor, let him prove this debt, and he EJiall be

JOB, XXII.

105

sure not to lose it; (Rom. xi. 35.) pyTio has given Co
him, and it shall be recomfiensed to him again? But
Eliphaz here shows that the righteousness and per-
fection of the best man in the world are no real
benefit or advantage to God, and therefore cannot
be thought to merit any thing from him.

(1.) Man's piety is no profit to God, no gain, v.
1, 2. If we could by any thing merit from God, it
would be by our piety, our being righteous, and
making our way perfect. If that will not merit,
surely nothing else will : if a man cannot make God
his debtor by his godliness, and honesty, and obe-
dience to his laws, much less can he by his wit, and
learning, and worldly policy. Now E'.iphaz here
isks, whether any man can possibly be profitable
to God? It is certain that man cannot. By no
means: he that is wise may be firojitable to himself.
No>e, Our wisdom and piety are that by which we
ourselves are, and are likely to be, great gainers.
Wisdom is /irof table to direct, Eccl. x. 10. God-
liness is profitable to all things, 1 Tim. iv. 8. If
thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, Pro\ .
ix. 12. The gains of religion are infinitely greater
than the losses of it, and so it will appear when they
are balanced. But can a man be thus profitable to
God? No, for such is the perfection of God, that
he cannot receive any benefit or advantage by men;
what can be added to that which is infinite? And
such is the weakness and imperfection of man, that
he cannot offer any benefit or advantage to God.
Can the light of a candle be profitable to the sun,
or the drop of the bucket to the ocean? He that is
wise, is profitable to himself, for his own direction
and defence, liis own credit and comfort; he can
with his wisdom entertain himself, and enrich him-
6elf; but can he so be profitable to God? No;
God needs not us or our services. We are undone,
for e\ er undone, without him; but he is happy, for
ever h ippy, without us. Is it any gain to him, any
real addition to his glory or wealth, if we make our
way perfect? Suppose it were absolutely perfect,
yet what is God the better? Much less when it is
so far short of Iieing perfect.

(2.) It is no /ileasure to h.\m. God has indeed
expressed himself in his word well pleased with the
righteous; his countenance beholds them, and his
delight is in them and their prayers; but all that
adds nothing to the infinite satisfaction and com-
placency which the Eternal Mind has in itself
God can enjoy himself without us, though we could
have but little enjoyment nf ourselves without our
friends. This magnifies his condescension, in that,
though our services be no real profit or pleasure to
him, vet he invites, encourages, and accepts, them.
2. That, when God restrains or rebukes us, it is
not because he is in danger fronn us, or jealous of us;
{v. 4. ) " Will he refirove thee for fear of thee, and
take thee down from thy prosperity, lest thou
shouldest grow too great for him ; as princes some-
times have thought it a piece of policy to curb the
growing greatness of a subject, lest he should be-
came formidable?" Satan indeed suggested to our
first parents, that God forbade them the tree of
knowledge, for fear of them, lest they should be as
!c:nds, and so become rivals with him; but it was a
base insinuation. God rebukes the good because
he loves them, but he never rebukes the great be-
cause he fears them. He does not enter into judg-
ment with men, that is, pick a quarrel with them,
and seek occasi-^n against them, through fear they
should eclipse his honour, or endanger his interest.
Magistrates punish offenders for fear of them; Pha-
raoh oppressed Israel because he feared them; it
was for fear that Herod slew the children of Beth-
lehem; that the Jews persecuted Christ and his
apostles. But God does not, as they did, pervert
justice for fear 'f any. See ch. xxxvi. 5««8.

Vol hi.— O

5. Is not thy wickedness great? and thine
iniquities infinite? 6. For thou hast taken
a pledge from thy brother for nought, and
stripped the naked of their clothing. 7.
Thou hast not given water to tlie weary to
drink, and thou hast withholden bread from
the hungry. 8. But as for the mighty man,
he had the earth ; and the honourable man
dwelt in it. 9. Thou hast sent widows
away empty ; and the arms of the fatherless
have been broken : 1 0. Therefore snares
are round about thee, and sudden fear trou-
bleth thee ; 11 . Or darkness, that thou
canst not see ; and abundance of waters
cover thee. 1 2. Is not God in the height
of heaven? and, behold, the height of the
stars, how high they are! 13. And thou
sayest. How doth God know? can he judge
through the dark cloud? 14. Thickdouds
are a covering to him, that he seeth not ;
and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Eliphaz and his companions had condemned Job,
in general, as a wicked man and a hypocrite; but
none of them had descended to particulars, nor
drawn up any articles of impeachment against him,
until Eliphaz did it here, where he positively and
expressly charges him with many high crimes and
misdemeanors, which if he had really been guilty
of, they might well have justified themselves in
their harsh censures of him. "Come," (says Eli-
phaz,) "we ha\e been too tender of Job, and afraid
of grie\ ing him, which has but confirmed him in
his self-justification; it is high time to deal plainly
with him; we have condemned him by parables,
but that does not answer the end; he is not prevail-
ed with to condemn hiniself; we must therefore
plainly tell him, ''Thou art the man, the tyrant,
the oppressor, the atheist, we have been speaking
of all this while. Is not thy wickedness great? Cer-
tainly it is, or else tliy troubles would not be so
great. I appeal to thyself, and thy own conscience;
are not thine iniquities infinite, both in number and
heinousness?" Strictly taken, nothing is infinite
but God: but he means' this, that his sins were more
than could be counted; and more heinous than
could be conceived. Sin, being committed against
Infinite Majesty, has in it a kind of infinite malignity.
But when Eliphaz charges Job thus high, and ven-
tures to f'escend to particulars too, laying to his
charge that which he knew not, we may take occa-
sion hence, 1. To be angry at those who unjustly
censure and condemn their brethren. For aught I
know, Eliphaz, in accusing Job falsely, as he does
here, was guilty of as great a sin, and as great a
wrong to Job, as the Sabeans and Chaldeans that
robbed him; for a man's good name is more pre-
cious and valuable than his wealth. It is against all
the laws of justice, charity, and friendship, either
to raise, or receive, calumnies, jealousies, and evil
surmises, concerning others; and it is the more base
and disingenuous, if we thus vex those that are in
distress, and add to their affliction. Eliphaz could
produce no instances of Job's guilt in any of the par-
ticulars that fol'ow here, biit seems resolved to
calumniate boldly, and throw all the reproach he
could on Job, not doubting but that some would
clea\ e to him. 2. To pitv those who are thus cen-
sured and condemned. Innocency itself will be no
security against a false and foul tongue. Job, whom
God himself praised as the best man in the world.

106

JOB, XXII.

IS here represented by one of his friends, and him a
wise and good man too, as one of the greatest villains
in nature. Let us not think it strange, if at any
time we be thus blackened, but learn how to pass
hy evil report as well as good, and commit our
( ause, as Job did, to him that judgeth righteously.

Let us see the particular articles of this charge.

L He charges him with oppression and injustice;
that, when he was in prosperity, he not only did no
good with his wealth and power, but did a great
deal of hurt with it. This was utterly false, as ap-
pears by the account Job gives of himself, {ch.
xxix, 12, 8cc.) and the character God gave of him,
th. i. And yet,

1. Eliphaz branches out this charge into divers
particulars, with as much assurance as if he could
call witnesses to prove upon oath every article of it.
He tells him, (1.) That he had been cruel and un-
merciful to the poor. As a magistrate, he ought to
have protected them, and seen them provided for;
but Eliphaz suspects that he never did them any
kindness, but all the mischief his power enabled
him to do; that, for an inconsiderable debt, he de-
manded, and carried away by violence, a pawn of
great value, even from his brother, whose honesty
and sufficiency he could not but know; [y. 6. ) Thou
hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught;
or, as the LXX read it. Thou hast taken thy bre-
thren for pledges, and that for naught; imprisoned
them, enslaved them, because they had nothing to
pay; that he had taken the very clothes of his in-
solvent tenants and debtors, so that he had stripped
them naked, and left them so: the law of. Moses
forbade this; (Exod. xxii. 26. Deut. xxiv. 13.) that
he had not been charitable to the poor, no not to
poor travellers, and poor widows. "Thou hast not
given so much as a cup of cold water, (which
would have cost thee nothing,) to the weary to
drink, when he begged for it, {v. 7.) and was ready
to perish for want of it: nay, thou hast withholden
bread from the hungry in their extremity, hast not
only not given it, but hast forbidden the giving of it;
which is withholding good from those to ivhom it is
really due, Prov. iii. 27. Poof widows, who, while
their husbands were living, troubled nobody, but
now weie forced to seek relief, thou hast sent away
empty from thy doors with a sad heart, v. 9. Those
who came to thee for justice, thou didst send away
unheard, unhelped; nay, though they came to thee
full, thou didst squeeze them, and send them away
empty; and, worst of all, the arms of tlie fatherless
have been broken; those that could help them-
selves but little, thou hast (juite disabled to help
themselves." This, which is the blackest part of
the charge, is but insinuated; The arms of the fa-
therless have been broken: he does not say, " Thou
hast broken them," but he would have it understood
so: and, if they be broken, and those who have
power do not relieve them, they are chargeable
with it. " They have been broken by those under
thee, and thou hast connived at it, which brings
thee under the guilt. " (2. ) That he had been par-
tial to the rich and great; {v. 8.) "M for the
mighty man, if he was guilty of any crime, he was
never questioned for it; he had the earth, he dwelt
in it: if he brought an action ever so unjustly, or if
an action were ever so justly brought against him,
yet he was sure to carry his cause in thy courts.
The poor were not fed at thv door, while the rich
were feasting at thy table.'' Contrary to this is
Christ's rule for hospitality; (Luke xiv. 12.. U.)
and Solomon s.iys. He that gives to the rich shall
come to poverty.

2. He attributes all his present troubles to these
supposed sins; (i'. 10, 11.) "Those th it are guilty
of such pnictices as these, commonly tiring them
iclvcs into just su£h a condition as thou art now in;

and therefore we conclude thou hast been thus
guilty." (1.) "It is the manner of God to cross
and embarrass such; and snares are, accordingly,
round about thee, so that, which way soever thou
steppest or lookest, thou findest thyself in distress;
and others are as hard upon thee as thou hast been
upon the poor." (2.) " Their own consciences ma)
be expected to terrify and accuse them: no sin
makes a louder cry there than unmercifulness: and,
accordingly, suddenfear troubles thee; and, though
thou wilt not own it, it is guilt of this kind that
creates thee all this terjjor. " Zophar had insinuated
this, ch. XX. 19,20. (3.) "They are brought to
their wits' end, so amazed and bewildered, th;it
they know not what to do, and that also is thy case;
for thou art in darkness, that thou canst not see
wherefoie God contends with thee, nor what is the
best course for thee to take; for abundance of -wa-
ters cover thee," that is, "thou art in a mist, in the
midst of dark waters, in the thick clouds of the
sky." Note, Those that have not showed mercy
may justly be denied the comfortable hope that they
shall find mercy; and then what can they expect
but snares, and darkness, and continual fear?

n. He charges him with atheism, infidelity, and
gross impiety; and thought this was at the bottom
of his injustice and oppressiveness: he that did not
fear God did not regard man. He would have it
thought that Job was an Epicurean, who did indeed
own the being of God, but denied his providence,
and fancied that he confined himself to the enter-
tainments of the upper world, and never concerned
himself in the inhabitants and atfairs of this.

1. Eliphaz observes a good truth, which, he
thought, if Job would duly consider, he would not
be so passionate in his complaints, nor so bold in
justifying himself; (v. 12.) Is not God in the height
of heaven? Yes, no doubt he is: no heaven so high
but God is there; and in the highest heavens, the
heavens of the blessed, the residence of his glory,
he is, in a special manner; there he is pleased to
manifest himself in a way peculiar to the upper
world, and thence he is pleased to manifest himself
in a way suited to this lower world. There is his
throne; there is his court: he is called the Heavens,
Dan. iv. 26. Thus Eliphaz proves that a man can-
not be profitable to God, {v. 2. ) that he ought not
to contend with God; (it is his folly if he does;) and
that we ought always to address ourseh es to God
with veiy great reverence; for when we behold the
height of the stars, how high they are, we might,
at the same time, also consider the transcendent
majesty of God, who is above the stars, and how
high he is.

2. He charges it upon Job, that he made a bad
use of this doctrine, which he might have made so
good a use of; {y. 13.) "Th\s'\s, holding the truth
in unrighteousness, fighting against religion with its
own weapons, and turning its own artillery upon
itself: Thou art willing to own that God is in the
height of heaven, but thence thou' inferrest, Hoio
doth God know?" Bad men expel the fear of God
out of their hearts, by banishing the eye of God
out of the world; (Ezek. viii. 12.) and care n't
what they do, if they can but persuade themselves
that God does not know. Eliphaz suspects that
Job had such a notion of God as this, that, because
he is in the height of heaven, (1.) It is therefore
impossible for him to see and hear what is done at so
great a distance as this earth: especially since there
is a dark cloud, (y. 13.) many thick clouds, (v. 14.)
that come between him and us, and are a covering to
him, so that he cannot see, much less can he judge of,
the affairs of this lower world; as if God had eyes of
flfsh, ch. X. 4. The interposing firmament is to him
as transparent crvstal, Ezek. i. 22. Distance ot

I place createsnodifficultvtohim who is immense, anv

JOB, XXII.

10?

more t'jan distance of time to him who is eternal.
Or, (2.) That it is therefore below him, and a di-
minution to his glory, to take cognizance of this in-
ferior part of the creation: he walks in the circuit
of heaven, and has enough to do, to enjoy himself
and his own perfections and glory, in that bright
and quiet world; why should he trouble himself
about us? This is gross absurdity, as well as gross
'.oipiety, which Eliphaz here fathers upon Job; for
it supposes that the administration of government
is a burthen and disparagement to the Supreme
Governor; and the acts of justice and mercy were
a toil to a mind infinitely wise, holy, and good. If
the sun, a creature, and inanimate, can with his
light and influence reach this earth, and every part
of it, (Ps. xix. 6.) even from that vast height of the
visible heavens in which he is, and in the circuit of
which he walks, and through many a thick and
dark cloud, shall we question it concerning the
Creator?

1 5. Hast thou marked the old way which
wicked men have trodden ; 16. Which were
cut down out of time, whose foundation
was overflown with a flood; 17. Which
said unto God, Depart from us: and what
can the Ahuighty do for them? 18. Yet
he filled their houses with good things : but
the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19. The righteous see z7, and are glad; and
the innocent laugh them to scorn. 20.
Whereas our substance is not cut down:
but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

Eliphaz, having endeavoured to convict Job, by
setting his sins (as he thought) in order before him,
here endeavours to awaken him to a sight and sense
of his misery and danger, by reason of sin; and this
he does, by comparing his case with that of the
sinners of the old world; as if he had said, "Thy
condition is bad now, but, unless thou repent, it will
be worse, as theirs was; theirs ivho were overfloivn
•with a Jloody as the old world, (z;. 16.) and theirs
the remnant of whom the Jire consumed," {v. 20.)
namely the Sodomites, who, in conip.irison of the
old world, were but a remnant. And these two in-
stances of the wrath of God against sin and sinners,
ai'C more than once put together, for warning to a
careless world: as by our Saviour, Luke xvii. 26,
&c. and the apostle, 2 Pet. ii. 5, 6. Eliphaz would
have Job to mark the old way which wicked men
have trodden, {v. 15.) and see what came of it,
what the end of their way was. Note, There is
an old way which wicked men have trodden. Reli-
gion had but newly entered, when sin immediately
followed it: but though it is an old way, a broad
way, a tracked way, it is a dangerous way, and it
leads to destruction; and it is good for us to mark
it, that we may not dare to walk in it.

Eliphaz here puts Job in mind of it, perhaps in
opposition to what he had said of the prosperity of
the wicked; as if he had said, "Thou canst find
out here and there a single instance, it may be, of a
wicked man ending his days in peace; but what is
that to those two great instances of the final perdi-
tion oi ungodly men — the drowning of the whole
world, and the burning of Sodom?" Destructions
by wholesale, in which he thinks Job may, as in a
glass, see his own face.

Observe, 1. The ruin of those sinners; {v. 16.)
They were cut down out of time; that is, they were
cut off in the midst of their days, when, as man's
time then went, many of them might, in the course
of nature, have lived some hundreds of years longer,

which made their immature extirpation the more
grievous. They were cut down out of time, to be
hurried into eternity. And their foundation, the
earth on which they built themselves, and all their
hopes, was overflown with a food, the flood which
was brought in ufion the world of the ungodly^
2 Pet. ii. 5. Note, Those who build" upon the sand,
choose a foundation which will be overflown, when
the rains descend, and the floods come; (Matth. vii.
27. ) and then their building must needs fall, and
they perish in the ruins of it, and repent of their
folly when it is too late,

2. The sin of those sinners, which brought that
ruin; (v. 17.) They said unto God, Defiart from
us. Job had spoken of some who said so, and yet
prospered, ch. xxi. 14, But these did not; (says
Eliphaz ;) they found, to their costs, what it was to
set God at defiance. Those who were resolved to
lay the reins on the neck of their appetites and pas-
sions, began with this; they said unto God, Defiart;
they abandoned all religion, hated the thoughts of
it, and desired to live without God in the world;
they shunned his word, and silenced conscience, his
deputy ! And what can the Almighty do for them?
Some make this to denote the justness of their
punishment. They said to God, Defiart from us;
and then what could the Almighty do with them,
but cut them of? Those who will not submit to
God's golden sceptre, must expect to be broken to
pieces with his iron rod. Others make it to denote
the injustice of their sin; But, wAa; hath the Al-
mighty done against them? What iniquity have
they found in him? or. Wherein has he wearied
them? Mic. vi, 3. Jer. ii. 5. Others make it to
denote the reason of their sin; They say unto God,
Defiart, asking what the Almighty can do to them?
"What has he done to oblige us? What can he do,
in a way of wrath, to make us miserable, or, in a
way of favour, to make us happy?" As they argue,
(Zeph. i, 12.) The Lord will not do good, neither
will he do evil. Eliphaz shows the absurdity of this
in one word, and that is, calling God The Almighty;
for, if he be so, what cannnt he do? But it is not
strange if those cast off all .religion, who neither
dread God's wrath, nor desire his favour,

3. The aggravation of this sin; Yet he had filled
their houses with good things, v. 18, Both those
of the old world, and those of Sodom, had great
plenty of all the delights of sense; for they ate, they
drank, they bought, they sold, Isfc. (Luke xvii. 27.)
so that they had no reason to ask what the Almighty
could do for them? for they lived upon his bounty;
no reason to bid him depart from them, who had
been so kind to them. Many have their houses full
of goods, but their hearts' empty of grace, and
thereby are marked for ruin.

4. The protestation which Eliphaz makes against
the principles and practices of those wicked people;
But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Job
had said so, {ch. xxi. 16.) and Eliphaz will not be
behind with him. If they cannot agree in their own
principles concerning God, yet they agree in re-
nouncing the principles of those that live without
God in the world. Note, Those that differ from
each other in some matters of religion, and are en-
gaged in disputes about them, yet ought unanimously
and vigorously to appear against atheism and irre-
ligion, and to take great care that their disputes do
not hinder either their vigour or unanimity, in that
common cause of God, that righteous cause.

5. The pleasure and satisfaction which the righ-
teous shall have in this. (1.) In seeing the wicked
destroyed, v. 19. They shall see it, that is, observe
it, and take notice of it; (Hos. xiv. 9.) and they
shall be glad, not to see their fellow-creatures
miserable, or any secular turn of their own served,
01' point gained, but to see God glorified, the word

108

JOB, XXII.

of (iod fulfilled, the power of oppressors broken,
and thereby the oppressed relieved; to see sin
s iH.i.ed, atheists and infidels confounded, und fair
warning given to all others to shun such wicked
courses. Nay, they shall laugh them to scorn, that
is, they justly might do it; they shall do it, as God
does it, in a holy manner, Ps. ii. 4. Prov. i. 26.
They shall take occasion thence to expose the folly
cf sinners, and show how ridiculous their principles
are, though they call themselves wits. Lo, this is
the man that made not God his strength, and see
what comes of it, Ps. lii. 7. Some understand this
of i-ighteous Noah and his family, who beheld the
destruction of the old world, and rejoiced in it, as
he had grieved for their impiety. Lot, who saw the
ruin of Sodom, had the same reason to rdoice,
2 Pet. ii. 7, 8. (2. ) In seeing themselves distin-
guished; {y. 20.) " Whereas our substance is not
cut down, as theirs was, and as thine is, we con-
tinue to prosper, which is a sign that we are the
favourites of Heaven, and in the right." The same
rule that served him to condejnn Job by, served him
to magnify himself and his companions by. His
substance is cut down, therefore he is a wicked
man; ours is not, therefore we are righteous. But
it is a deceitful rule to judge by; for none knows
love or hatred by all that is before him. If others
be consumed, if the very remnant of them be con-
sumed, and we be not, instead of censuring them,
and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we
ought to be thankful to God, and take it for a warn-
ing to ourselves to prepare for the like calamities.

21. Acquaint now thyself with liim, and
be at peace : thereby good shall come unto
thee. 22. Receive, I pray thee, the law
from his mouth, and lay up his words in
thy lieart. 23. U thoa return to the Al-
mighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt
put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust,
and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the
brooks. 25. Yea', the Almighty shall be
lliy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of
silver. 26. For then shalt thou have thy
delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up
thy face unto God. 27. Thou shalt make
thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee,
and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28. Thou
shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be
established unto thee; and the light shall
shine upon thy ways. 29. When men are
cast down, then thou shalt say. There is
lifting up; and he shall save the humble
person. 30. He shall deliver the island of
the innocent; and it is delivered by the
pureness of thy hands.

Methinks I can almost, forgive Eliphaz his hard
censures of Job, which we had in the beginning of
the chapter, though they were very unjust and un-
kind, for this good counsel and encouragement which
he gives him in these verses with which he closes
his discourse, and than which nothing could be bet-
ter said, or more to the purpose. Though he thought
him a bad man, yet he saw reasons to have hope
concerning him, that, for all this, he would be both
pious and prosperous. But it is strange, that out of
the same mouth, and almost in the same breath,
both sweet waters and bitter should proceed. Good
men, though they may perhaps be put into a heat,

yet sometimes will talk themselves into abetter
temper, and, it may be, sooner than another could
talk them into it.

Eliphaz had laid before Jub the miserable condi-
tion of a wicked man, that he might frighten him
into repentance. Here, on the other hand, he
shows him the happiness which those may be sure
of, that do repent, that he might allure and encou-
rage him to it. Ministers must try both ways in
dealing with people, nmst speak to them from
mount Sinai by the terrors ot the law, and from
mount Zion by the comforts of the gospel, must set
before them both life and death, good and evil, the
blessing and the curse. Now here observe,

I. The good counsel which Eliphaz gives to Job;
and good ci unsel it is to us all, though, as to Job,
it was built upon a false supposition that he was a
wicked man, and now a stranger and enemy to God.

1. Acquaint now thyself with God. Acquiesce in
God; so some. It is our duty, at all times, espe-
cially when we are in affliction, to accommodate
ourselves to, and quiet ourselves in, all the disposals
of the Divine Providence. Join thyself to him; so
some; Fall in with his interests, and act no longer
in opposition to him. Our translators render it well;
" Acquaint thyself with him; be not such a stranger
to him as thou hast made thyself by casting off the
fear of him, and restraining prayer before him."
It is the duty and interest of every one of us, to ac-
quaint ourselxes with God. We must get the
knowledge of him, fix our affections on him, join
ourselves to him in a covenant of friendship, and
then set up, and keep up, a constant correspondence
with him in the ways he has appointed. It is our
honour, that we are made capable of this acquaint-
ance; our misery, that by sin we have lost it; our
privilege, that through Christ we are invited to re-
turn to it; and it will be our unspeakable happiness
to contract and cultivate this acquaintance.

2. '^ Be at fieace; at peace with thyself, not fret-
ful, uneasy, and in confusion; let not thy heart be
troubled, but be quiet and calm, and well composed.
Be at peace with thy God; be reconciled to him.
Uo not carry on this unholy war. Thou complainest
that God is thine Enemy; be thou his friend." It is
the great concern of every one of us to make our
peace with God, and it is necessary in order to our
comfortable acquaintance with him ; for can two
walk together, excejit they be agreed? Amos iii. 3.
This we must do quickly; now, before it be too late.
A^ree with thine adversary, while thou art in the
way. This we are earnestly urged to do. Some
read it, "Acquaint thyself, I pray thee, with him,
and be at peace." God himself beseeches us, minis-
ters in Christ's stead, pray us, to be reconciled.
Can we gainsiy such entreaties?

3. Receive the law from his mouth; {y. 22.) " Hav-
ing made thy peace with God, submit to his govem-
ment, and resolve to be ruled by him, that thnu
mayest keep thyself in his love." We receive our
being and maintenance from God. From him we
hope to receiN e our bliss, and from him we must
receive law; Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
Acts ix. 6. Which way soever we receive the in-
timations of his will, we must have our eye to him;
whether he speaks by scripture, ministers, con-
science, or providence, we must take the word as
from his mouth, and bow our souls to it. Thoup-h,
in Job's time, we do not know that there was any
written word, yet there was a revelation of God s
will to be received. Eliphaz looked upon Job as a
wicked man; and was pressing him to repent and
reform. Herein consists the conversion of a sinner
— his receiving the law from God's mouth, and no
longer from the world and the flesh. Eliphaz, be-
ing now in contest with Job, appeals to the word of
God for the ending of the controversy; Receive that.

JOB, XXII.

109

and be determined by it. To the law and to the tes-
limony.

4. Lay ufi his word in thine heart. It is not enough
to receive it, but we must retain it, Prov. iii. 18.
We must lay it up as a thing of great value, that it
may be sate: and we must lay it up in our hearts, as
a thing of great use, that it may be ready to us when
there is occasion, and we may neither lose it wholly,
nor be at a loss for it in a time of need.

5. Return to the Almighty; {v. 23.) "Do not only
turn from sin, but turn to God and thy duty. Do
not only turn toward the Almighty in some good
inclinations and good beginnings, but return to him;

eturn home to him, quite to him, so as to reach to
the Almighty, by a universal reformation, an effec-
tual thorough change of thy heart and life, and a
tirm resolution to cleave to him;" so Mr. Poole.

6. Put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
This was the advice Zophar gave him; (cA. xi. 14. )
" Let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle. Put
iniquity far off, the farther the better, not only from
thy heart and hand, but from thy house. Thou
must not only not be wicked thyself, but reprove and
restrain sin in those that are under thy charge. "
Note, Family reformation is needful reformation;
we and our house must serve the Lord.

II. The good encouragement which Eliphaz gives
Job, that he should be very happy, if he would but
take this good counsel. In general, " Thereby good
shall come unto thee; {v. 21.) the good that is now
departed from thee; all the good thy heart can de-
sire, temporal, spiritual, eternal, good shall come
to thee. God shall come to thee, into covenant and
communion with thee; and he brings all good with
him, all good in him. Thou art now ruined and
brought down, but if thou return to God, thou shalt
be built ufi again, and thy present ruins shall be re-
paired. Thy family shall be built up in children,
thy estate in wealth, and thy soul in holiness and
comfort. "

The promises which Eliphaz here encourages Job
with, are reducible to three heads;

1. That his esm?e should prosper, and temporal
l)lessings should be bestowed abundantly upon him;
for godliness has the promise of the life that now is.
It is promised,

(1. ) That he shall be very rich, {v. 24.) " Thou
shalt lay ufi gold as dust, in such great abundance,
and shalt have plenty of silver; {v. 25.) whereas
now thou art poor and stripped of all. " Job had
been rich; Eliphaz suspected he got his riches by
fraud and oppression, and therefore they were taken
from him; but if he would return to God and duty,
[1.] He should have more wealth than ever he had;
lot only thousands of sheep and oxen, the wealth
of farmers, but thousands of gold and silver, the
wealth of princes, ch. iii. 15. Abundantly more
riches, tnae riches, are to be got by the service of
Ciod than by the service of the woi'ld. [2.] He
should have it more sure to him; Thou shalt lay it
iifi in good hands, and hold that which is got by thy
piety, by a surer tenure than that which thou didst
icet by thine iniquity." Thou shalt have silver of
strength, (for so the word is,) which, being honestly
got, will wear well; silver like steel. [3.] He
should, by the grace of God, be kept from setting
his heart so much upon it, as Eliphaz thought he
had done. Then wealth is a blessing indeed, when
we are not insnared with the love of it. Thou shalt
lay ufi gold; but how? Not as thy treasure and
portion, but as dust, and as the stones of the brooks.
So little shalt thou value it or expect from it, that
thou shalt lay it at thy feet, (Acts iv. 35. ) not m thy
bosom.

(2.) That yet he shall be very safe; whereas
men's riches usually expose them to danger, and he
liad owned that in his prosperity he was not in safe-

ty, {ch. iii. 26.) now he might be secure; for thr
Almighty shall be thy Defender; nay, he shall be
thy Defence, v. 25. He shall be thy gold; so it .s
in the margin, and it is the same word that is used
{v. 24. ) for gold, but it signifies also a strong hold,
because money is a defence, Eccl. vii. 12. World-
lings make gold their god, saints make God their
gold; and they that are enriched with his favour
and grace, may truly be said to have abundance of
the best gold, and best laid up. We understand it,
" He shall be thy Defence against the incursions of
neighbouring spoilers: thy wealth shall not then lie
exposed as it did to Sabeans and Chaldeans;" which,
some think, is the meaning of that. Thou shalt put
away iniquity far from thy tabernacle; taking it as
a promise. "1 he iniquity or wrong designed against
thee shall be put off, and shall not reach thee."
Note, Those must needs be safe, that have Omnipo-
tence itself for their defence, Ps. xci. l-«3.

2. That his sow/ should prosper, and he should be
enriched with spiritual blessings, wkich are the best
blessings.

(1.) That he should live a life of complacency in
God; {v. 26.) ''For then shalt thou have thy de-
light in the Almighty; and thus the Almighty comes
to be thy gold, by thy delighting in him, as worldly
people delight in their money. He shall be thy
Wealth, thy Defence, thy Dignity; for he shall be
thy Delight." The way to have our heart's desire,
is to make God our heart's Delight, Ps. xxxvii. 4.
If God give us himself to be our Joy, he will deny
us nothing that is good for us. "Now, God is a
Terror to thee, he is so, by thine own confession;
{ch. vi. 4. — xvi. 9. — xix. 11.) but if thou wilt retum
to him, then, not tUl then, he will be thy Delight;
and it shall be as much a pleasure to thee to think
of him, as ever it was a pain." No delight is com-
parable to the delight which gracious souls have in
the Almighty; and those that acquaint themselves
with him, and submit themselves entirely to him,
shall find his favour to be, not only their strength,
but their song.

(2.) That he should have a humble, holy, confi-
dence toward God; such as they are said to have,
whose hearts condemn them not; 1 John iii. 21.
" Then shalt thou lift up thy face to God with bold-
ness, and not be afraid, as thou now art, to draw
near to him. Thy countenance is now fallen, and
thou lookest dejected; but when thou hast made thy
peace with God, thou shalt blush no more, tremble
no more, and hang thy head no more, as thou dost
now, but shalt cheerfully, and with a gracious as-
surance, show thyself to him, pray before him, and
expect blessings from him."

(3.) That he should maintain a constant commu-
nion with God; "The correspondence, once settled,
shall be kept up to thine unspeakable satisfaction.
Letters shall be both statedly and occasionally in-
terchanged between thee and Heaven," v. 27. [1. ]
" Thou shalt by prayer send letters to God; Thou
shalt make thy prayer" (the word is. Thou shalt
multiply thy prayers) "imto him, and he will not
think thy letters troublesome, though many and
long. The oftener we come to the throne of grace,
the more welcome. Under all thy burthens, in all
thy wants, cares, and fears, thou shalt send to hea-
ven for guidance and strength, wisdom, comfort,
and good success." [2.] " He shall, by his provi-
dence and grace, answer those letters, and give thee
what thou askest of him, either in kind or kindness;
he shall hear thee, and make it to appear he does
so, by what he does for thee and in thee." [3.]
" Then thou shalt by thy praises reply to the gra-
cious answers which he sent thee: thou shalt pay
thy vows, and that shall be acceptable to him, and
fetch in further mercy." Note, When God per-
forms that which in our distress we prayed foi-, wf

110

30B, XXIII.

mubt make conscience of performing that which we
liien pronused, else we do not deal honestly. If
we promised notiiing else, we promised to be
thankful, and that is enough, for it includes all, Ps.
cxvi. 14.

(4.) That he should have inward satisfaction in
the management of all his outward affairs; {v. 28.)
IViou s/ialt decree a thing, and it shall be established
unto thee,^' that is, "Thou shalt frame all thy pro-
jects and purposes with so much wisdom and grace,
and resignation to the will of God, that the issue of
them shall be to thy heart's content, just as thou
wouldest have it to be. Thou shalt commit thy works
unto the Lord by faith and prayer, and then thy
thoughts shall be established; thou shalt be easy and
pleased, whatsoever occurs, Prov. xvi. 3. This the
grace of God shall work in thee; nay, sometimes
the providence of God shall give thee the very
thing thou didst desire and pray for, and give it
thee in thine own way, and manner, and time; be it
unto thee, even as thou wilt," When, at any time,
an affair succeeds Just according to the scheme we
laid, and our measures are in nothing broken,, nor
are we put upon new counsels, then we must ewn
the performance of this promise, 7'hou shalt de-
cree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee.
" Whereas now thou complainest of darkness round
about thee, then the light shall shine on thy ways;"
that is, '• God shall guide and direct thee, and then
it will follow, of course, that he shall prosper and
succeed thee in all thine undertakings. God's wis-
dom shall be thy guide, his fa\our thy comfort, and
th)- ways shall be so under both those lights, that
thou shalt liave a comfortable enjoyment of what is
present, and a comfortable prospect of what is fu-
ture," Ps. xc. 17.

(5. ) I'hat, e\ en in times of common calamity and
danger, he should have abundance of joy and hope;
(t. 29.) " When men are cast down round about
thee, cast down in their affairs, cast down in their
spirits, sinking, desponding, and ready to despair,
then shalt thou say, There is lifting 2ifi. Thou shalt
find that in thyself, which will not only bear thee
u]) under thy ti"oul)les, and keep thee from fainting,
!)ut lift thee up abox'e thy troubles, and enable thee
to rejoice ^\ermore. When men's hearts fail them
for /^nr, then shall Christ's disciples lift ufi their
heads for joy, Luke xxi. 26.. 28. Thus are they
made to ride ufion the high filaces of the earth;
(Isa. Iviii. 14.) and that which will lift them up, is,
the belief of this, that God will save the humble
]Hrson. Thcv that humble themselves shall be ex-
i.ltecl, not only in honour, but in comfort.

3. That he should be a blessing to his country,
rnid nn instrument of good to many; {v. 30.) God
shall, in answer to thv prayers, deliver the island
of the innoce?2t, and have a regard therein to the
yiureness of thy hands, which is necessary to the
acce])tableness of our prayers, 1 Tim. ii. 8. But,
l)ccause we may suppose the innocent not to need
deliverance, (it was guilty Sodom that wanted the
benefit of Abraham's intercession,) I incline to the
marginal reading. The innocent shall deliver the
island, by their advice, (Eccl. ix. 14, 15.) and by
iheir prayers, and their interest in hea\en. Acts
xxvii. 24. Or, He shall deliver (hose that are not in-
nocent, and they are delivered by the /iureness of
thy hands; so it may be read, and most probably.
Note, h good man is a public good. Sinners fare
the better for saints, whether they are aware of it
or no. If Eliphaz intended hereby, (as some think
he did,) to insinuate that Job's prayers were not
prevailing, nor his hands pure, (for then he would
h-ive relieved others, much more himself,) he was
.Tftcrward made to sec his error, when it api)earcd
ui it .Tdb had a better interest in heaven than he
nad; f(,r he and his three friends, whOj-in this mat-

ter, were not innocent, were deVnered by the fiure
ness of Job's hands, ch. xlii. 8.

CHAP. XXIII.

This chapter begins Job's reply to Eliphaz; in this reply
he lakes no notice of his friends; either because he saw
it was to no purpose, or because he liked the ffood coun-
sel Eliphaz jrave him in the close of his discourse so well,
that he would make no answer to the peevish reflections
he began with; but he appeals to God; begs to have his
cause heard, and doubts not but to make it good, having
the testimony of his own conscience concerning his in-
tegrity. Here seems to be a struggle between flesh and
spirit, fear and faith, throughout this chapter. I. He
complains of his calamitous condition, and especially of
God's withdrawincrs from him, so that he could not get
his appeal heard, (v. 2. . 5.) nor discern the meaning of
God's dealings with him, (v. 8, 9.) nor gain any hope of
relief, v. 13, 14. This made deep impressions of trouble
and terror upon him, v. 15.. 17. But, H. In the midst
of these complaints, he comforts himself with the as-
surance of God's clemency, (v. 6, 7.) and his own inte-
grity, which God himself was a Witness to, v. 10 . . 12.
Thus was the light of his day like that spoken of, (Zech.
xiv. 6, 7. ) neither perfectly clear nor perfectly dark, hut
at evening time it tvas light

1 . nr^HEN Job answered and said, 2.
JL Even to-day is my complaint hitter :
my stroke is lieavier than my groaning. 3.
Oh that I knew where I miglit find him !
that I might come eveji to his seat ! 4. I
would order m?/ cause before him, and fill
my mouth with arguments. 5. I would
know the words ir/iich he would answer me,
and understand what he would say unto me.
G. Will he plead against me with his great
power? no; but he would put strength in
me. 7. There the righteous might dispute
with him ; so should I be delivered for ever
from my judge.

Job is confident that he has wrong done him by
his friends, and therefore, ill as he is, he will not
give up the cause, nor let them have the last word.
Here,

I. He justifies his own resentments and repre-
sentations of his trouble; (t. 2.) Even to-day, I
own, my complaint is bitter; for the affliction, the
cause of the complaint, is so. There are worm-
wood and gall in the affliction and misery, my soul
has them still in remembrance, and is imbittered by
them. Lam. iii. 19, 20. Even to-day is my com-
plaint counted rebellion; so some read it; his friends
construed the innocent expressions of his grief into
reflections upon God and his providence, and called
them rebellion. "But," says he, "I do not com-
plain more than there is cause, for my stroke w
heavier than my groaning. Even to-day, after all
you have said to convince and comfort me, still the
pains of my body, and the wounds of my spirit, are
such, that I have reason enough for my complaints,
if they were more bitter than they are. " We wrong
God, if our groaning be heavier than our stroke;
like froward children, who, when they cry for no-
thing, have justly something given them to cry for;
but we do not wrong ourselves, though our stroke
he heavier than our groaning, for little said is soon
amended.

II. He apperds from the censures of his friends to
the just judgment of God; and this he thought was
an evidence for him that he was not a hypocrite,
for tluMi he durst not have made such an appeal as
this. St. Paul comforts himself in this, that he that
judged liim was the Lord, and therefore he valued
not man's judgment, (1 Cor. iv. 3 /•- ". hut he was

JOB, XXI] 1.

Ill

willing to wait till the rippointed day of decision
comes; whereas Job is impatient, and passionately
wishes to have the judgment-day anticipated, and
to have his cause tried quickly, as it were, by a
special commission. The apostle found it necessa-
ry to press it much upon suffering Christians pa-
tiently topxpect the Judge's coming, James v. 7- -9.

1. He is so sure of the equity of God's tribunal,
that he longs to appear before it; (v. 3.) Oh that I
knew where I might find him! This may properly
express the pious breathings of a soul convinced
that it has, by sin, lost God, and is undone for ever
if it recover not its interest in his favour. *' Oli
that I knew how I might recover his favour! How
I might come into covenant and communion with
him!" Mic. vi. 6, 7. It is the cry of a poor desert-
ed soul, " Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? Oh
that I knew where I might find him! Oh that he
who has laid open the way to him, would direct me
into it, and lead me in it!" But Job here seems to
speak it too boldly, that his friends wronged him,
and he knew not which way to apply himself to
God, to have justice done him, else he would go
even to his seat, to demand it. A patient waiting
for death and judgment is our wisdom and duty;
and, if we duly consider things, that cannot be with-
out a holy fear and trembling; but a passionate
wishing for death or judgment, without any such
fear and trembling, is our sin and folly, and ill be-
comes us. Do we know what death and judgment
are, and are we so very ready for them, that we
need not time to get readier? Woe to them that, thus
in a heat, denire the day of the Lord, Amos v. 18.

2. He is so sure of the goodness of his own cause,
that he longs to be opening it at God's bar, {v. 4. )
" / would order 7ny cause before him, and set it in
a true light; I would produce the evidences of my
sincerity in a proper method, and would fill my
mouth with arguments to prove it." We may ap-
ply this to the duty of prayer, in which we have
boldness to enter into the holiest, and to come even
to the footstool of the throne of grace. We have
not only liberty of access, but liberty of speech.
We have leave, (1.) To be particular in our re-
quests, to order our cause before God, to speak the
whole matter, to lay before him all our grievances,
in what method we think most proper; we durst
not be so free with earthly princes, as an humble
holy soul may be with God. (2. ) To be importu-
nate in our requests. We are allowed, not only to
pray, but to plead; not only to ask, but to argue;
nay, to fill our mouths with arguments: not to move
God, (he is perfectly apprized of the merits of the
cause without our showing,) but to move ourselves,
to excite our fervency, and encourage our faith, in
prayer.

3. He is so sure of a sentence in favour of him,
that he even longed to hear it; (x;. 5.) "/ would
know the words which he would answer me," that
is, "I would gladly hear what God will say to this
matter in dispute between you and me; and will
entirely acquiesce in his judgment." This becomes
us, in all controversies; let the word of God deter-
mine them; let us know what he answers, and un-
derstand what he says. Job knew well enough what
his friends would answer him; they would condemn
him, and run him down; "But," (says he,) "/
would fain know what God would answer me; for
I am sure his judgment is according to truth, which
theirs is not. I cannot understand them, they talk
so little to the purpose; but what he says I should
understand, and therefore be fully satisfied in."

in. He comforts himself with the hope that God
would deal favourably with him in this matter, v.
f, 7. Note, It is of great use to us, in every thing
wherein we have to do with God, to keep up good
thoughts of him. He believes,

1. That God would not ovei-power him; that he
would not deal with him either by absolute sove-
reignty, or in strict justice; not with a high hand,
not with a strong hand: TVill he filead against me
with his great flower? No, Job's friends pleaded
against him with all the power they had; but will
God do so.> No, his power is all just and holy,
whatever men's is: against those that are obstinate
in their unbelief and impenitency, God will filead
with his great fiower, their desti'uction will come
from the glory of his fiower ; but with his own peo-
ple, that love him and trust in him, he will deal in
tender compassion.

2. That, on the contrary, he would empower him
to plead his own cause before God; " He would fiut
strength in me, to support me and bear me up, in
maintaining mine integrity." Note, The same pow-
er that is engaged against proud sinners, is engaged
for humble saints, who prevail with God by streng:th
derived from him, as Jacob did, Hos. xii. 3. See Ps.
Ixviii. 35.

3. That the issue would certainly be comfortable;
(xK 7.) There, in the court of heaven, when the
final sentence is to be given, the righteous might
disfiute with him, and come off in his righteousness.
Now, even the upright are often chastened of the
Lord, and they cannot dispute against it; integrity
itself is no fence either against calamity or calumny;
but in that day, thev shall not be condemned with
the world, though God may afflict by prerogative.
Then you shall discern between the righteous and
the wicked, Mai. iii. 18. So vast will be the dif-
ference between them in their everlasting state;
whereas now we can scarcely distinguish tnem, so
little is the difference between them as to their out-
ward condition, for all things come alike to all.
Then, when the final doom is given, " / shall be
delivered for ever from my Judge," that is, " I shall
be saved from the unjust censures of my friends,
and from that divine sentence which is now so much
a terror to me." Those that are delivered up to
God as their Owner and Ruler shall be for ever de-
livered fr